BLUFF Raises $21 Million to Power Betting Innovation

TheNewsCryptoPublicado em 2026-02-03Última atualização em 2026-02-03

Resumo

BLUFF, a next-generation betting and entertainment platform, has raised $21 million in a funding round led by blockchain fund 1kx, with participation from Makers Fund, Delphi Ventures, and sports investor Tristan Thompson. The platform, built by former executives from major betting companies like Stake and Bet365, focuses on speed, transparency, and social engagement for modern users. It has already processed over 125 million bets during its beta phase, attracting 600,000 sign-ups. BLUFF combines sports betting, prediction markets, and creator-led events, offering instant onboarding, real-time settlements, and a VIP program. The funds will support platform development and large-scale launch.

Los Angeles, California, February 3rd, 2026, Chainwire

Backed by Top Consumer, Crypto and Cultural Investors, BLUFF Quickly Emerges as a Fast-Growing Betting Platform Boasting More Than 125M Bets in Beta

BLUFF, the next-generation betting and entertainment platform, has raised $21 million in strategic investment led by global blockchain technology fund 1kx, with participation from Makers Fund, Maximum Frequency Ventures, Delphi Ventures Founders and other high-profile backers, including sports champion & tech investor, Tristan Thompson. The team includes former senior executives from Stake, Bet365, William Hill and Bodog, drawing on experience operating the world’s leading betting platforms to deliver a truly novel gaming experience. The team will use the funds to advance the innovative betting platform and launch at scale.

BLUFF is building a social centric betting platform and sportsbook designed for the next generation of players. The platform prioritizes speed, transparency and player alignment, with instant onboarding, real-time settlement, provably fair games and reward systems that allow users to participate directly in the ecosystem they help grow.

“When we began building BLUFF, we set out to create a betting platform for the new generation of betters who prioritise fast, high-engagement gameplay, real-time experiences, real stakes and the social energy that defines how players engage online today,” said BLUFF’s Founder. “This funding, and the investors who have backed us, validates our mission of what the future of online betting can look like. Novel content, user-experience obsessed, deep community focus, and hyper-engaging for all users.”

The raise follows an exceptional pre-release phase, during which BLUFF has attracted over 600,000 sign-ups, sustained tens of thousands of daily active users and processed over 125,000,000 bets through its beta in 3 months alone. This early traction positions BLUFF as one of the fastest-scaling new betting platforms in the market with strategic partners across crypto, gaming and consumer entertainment.

“The speed of execution and level of organic demand we’ve seen from BLUFF is rare,” said Peter Pan, Partner at 1kx. “They’re building a category-defining platform with the potential to become the number one destination in betting and entertainment. BLUFF is exactly what the next generation of users is demanding.”

Beyond traditional iGaming and sports betting, BLUFF is building a unified experience that blends betting, live prediction markets, binary outcomes, and creator-led community events within a single platform. Bluff also provides a VIP matching program to make the transition from legacy platforms such as Stake, Shuffle and Rollbit to Bluff as seamless as possible, offering market-leading bonuses, rewards and world-class VIP service through a 24/7 VIP concierge.

“We are thrilled to back the BLUFF team,” said Andrew Willson, Partner at Makers Fund. “They bring a deep, nuanced understanding of player needs combined with an innovative approach to company building and platform design. By prioritizing players and offering a differentiated experience, we expect BLUFF to become a disruptive brand in the betting space.”

To learn more and play now, visit Bluff.com.

####

About BLUFF

BLUFF is built for the new generation of players. A global sports betting and iGaming platform where gaming, real stakes, culture, and community merge into a single, continuous loop to meet today’s users’ demands. It starts as a betting platform and sportsbook and evolves into something much bigger, with novel bet types, loot boxes, and trading that make for a unique betting experience. Backed by global blockchain technology fund 1kx, the founding team includes senior executives and operators from Stake, Bet365, William Hill, Bodog, YOLO and other category-defining platforms, bringing decades of experience at the highest levels of betting and gaming.

About 1kx

1kx is a research-driven, fundamentals-focused global investment firm. Founded in 2018 by tech entrepreneurs Lasse Clausen and Chris Heymann, 1kx invests at key inflection points for blockchain technologies to create breakthrough opportunities across industries. The firm’s mission is to develop the domain expertise and thought leadership required to accelerate the most consequential markets emerging at the intersection of blockchain and the broader economy. As one of the top-performing and most institutionalized funds in the blockchain space, 1kx partners with a diverse global investor base, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowments, foundations, fund of funds, corporations, and family offices. Renowned for its hands-on approach, technical rigor, and unwavering long-term commitment to founders, 1kx has empowered over 150 visionary startups to scale transformative projects while delivering enduring returns for its investors.

To learn more, visit https://1kx.capital/ or @1kxnetwork on X.

Contact

BLUFF
[email protected]

Perguntas relacionadas

QHow much funding did BLUFF raise and who led the investment round?

ABLUFF raised $21 million in a strategic investment round led by global blockchain technology fund 1kx.

QWhat are the key features of BLUFF's betting platform?

ABLUFF's platform prioritizes speed, transparency, and player alignment with instant onboarding, real-time settlement, provably fair games, and reward systems that allow users to participate directly in the ecosystem.

QWhat notable traction did BLUFF achieve during its beta phase?

ADuring its beta phase, BLUFF attracted over 600,000 sign-ups, sustained tens of thousands of daily active users, and processed over 125 million bets in just 3 months.

QWhich companies' former executives are part of BLUFF's team?

ABLUFF's team includes former senior executives from Stake, Bet365, William Hill, and Bodog.

QWhat types of betting experiences does BLUFF aim to unify on its platform?

ABLUFF aims to unify traditional iGaming, sports betting, live prediction markets, binary outcomes, and creator-led community events within a single platform.

Leituras Relacionadas

Shenzhen's Airdrop Hunters Are Now Turning to Hong Kong Stock IPOs

Shenzhen, a city synonymous with ambition and rapid growth, has long been a hub for those capitalizing on information and opportunity gaps. From its origins as a small fishing village, it has transformed into a global center for electronics, manufacturing, and innovation, home to giants like Huawei, Tencent, and DJI. Arez, a typical Shenzhen entrepreneur in his early thirties, runs an airdrop farming studio in Nanshan. In 2023, his team profited significantly from major airdrops including Arbitrum, Starknet, and LayerZero. At its peak, the operation managed thousands of on-chain addresses, utilizing scripts, IP proxies, KYC resources, and capital rotation to maximize returns. Now, like many others in Shenzhen’s dynamic speculative economy, Arez and his peers are shifting focus—this time to Hong Kong’s IPO market, seeking new avenues for profit in ever-evolving financial landscapes.

marsbitHá 9m

Shenzhen's Airdrop Hunters Are Now Turning to Hong Kong Stock IPOs

marsbitHá 9m

Four Outrageous Details Hidden in Justin Sun's Lawsuit Against WLFI

Cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), accusing its executives of fraud, theft, and other violations. The complaint highlights four key allegations: First, it details the controversial history of WLFI co-founder Chase Herro, including past scams, a prison record, tax liens, and alleged visits to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. Second, Sun claims WLFI secretly upgraded its smart contract without token holder approval, granting itself the power to freeze and seize WLFI tokens—a move allegedly used against Sun. WLFI defended the action as necessary to protect user interests. Third, the dispute may have been fueled by Sun’s $100 million purchase of TRUMP meme tokens issued by a Trump-affiliated project. WLFI reportedly objected, though the purchase was allegedly approved by a Trump family member involved with both projects. Finally, Sun accuses WLFI of operating an unlicensed money transmission business due to its centralized control over token transfers, potentially violating federal and state laws. WLFI CEO Zach Witkoff dismissed the suit as a desperate distraction from Sun’s own misconduct. Herro did not directly address the allegations.

marsbitHá 14m

Four Outrageous Details Hidden in Justin Sun's Lawsuit Against WLFI

marsbitHá 14m

Chip Stocks Hit Record Highs Since 2000, SaaS Stocks Fall to Yearly Lows: Two Worlds Under the AI Divide

The article highlights a stark divergence in the tech market driven by AI: semiconductor stocks are surging while SaaS stocks plummet. On April 23, Texas Instruments saw its best single-day performance since 2000, with Q1 revenue up 19% and data center revenue surging 90%. Intel also reported blowout results, with revenue far exceeding expectations and its stock rising over 20% after hours. The semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up nearly 28% this year. In contrast, SaaS companies like ServiceNow and IBM experienced historic declines, with ServiceNow dropping 18% despite beating earnings estimates. The software ETF (IGV) has entered a technical bear market, losing about $2 trillion in market cap. The trend, dubbed "SaaSpocalypse," reflects fears that AI agents could reduce the need for software licenses and enable companies to build internal tools instead of relying on SaaS subscriptions. The market is rotating capital from software to semiconductors, betting on AI infrastructure as a safer play. Chip stocks now trade at high valuations—Texas Instruments at a P/E over 50, Intel at 120 times forward earnings—pricing in years of growth. However, this depends on continued massive AI capital expenditure from tech giants. If spending slows, the trend could reverse. For now, the divide persists: chips celebrate, SaaS struggles.

marsbitHá 33m

Chip Stocks Hit Record Highs Since 2000, SaaS Stocks Fall to Yearly Lows: Two Worlds Under the AI Divide

marsbitHá 33m

From Robinhood to Polymarket: Is the Era of Integrating All Assets on a Single Platform Coming?

From Robinhood to Polymarket: The Era of All-in-One Asset Platforms Is Coming Asset classes are rapidly converging. Platforms that once specialized in single categories—such as stocks, cryptocurrencies, or prediction markets—are now moving toward offering all three. Robinhood pioneered this model, starting with equities, adding crypto in 2018, and prediction markets in 2025. This strategy has proven resilient: when crypto revenues fell, other segments like options and stocks filled the gap. Now, prediction market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi are moving in the same direction, both announcing perpetual futures trading on April 21, 2026, pending regulatory approval. These futures will cover assets like Bitcoin, gold, and stocks such as Nvidia. This trend mirrors the consolidation seen in consumer tech, like smartphones replacing dedicated cameras and MP3 players. Younger users, accustomed to interacting with multiple asset types from an early age, will increasingly demand unified platforms. A key competitive advantage in prediction markets is collateral utilization—idle assets locked during betting periods. Polymarket’s move into perpetuals may be a strategy to generate yield from that capital, similar to earlier DeFi integrations like PolyAave. As the regulatory landscape evolves, traditional finance is also likely to incorporate crypto and prediction markets, further accelerating this convergence.

marsbitHá 33m

From Robinhood to Polymarket: Is the Era of Integrating All Assets on a Single Platform Coming?

marsbitHá 33m

OpenAI Goes Left, DeepSeek Goes Right

On April 24, 2026, DeepSeek released V4, a Chinese large language model offering a free "million-token context window," enabling it to process vast amounts of data like entire books or years of corporate documents in one go. In contrast, OpenAI’s GPT-5.5, released around the same time, is more powerful but significantly more expensive, charging up to $180 per million output tokens. DeepSeek’s strategy represents a shift from a pure AI research firm to a heavy-infrastructure player, building data centers in Inner Mongolia’s Ulanqab to bypass U.S. chip export restrictions. This move, supported by Huawei’s Ascend chips and China’s cheap green electricity, highlights a fundamental divergence in AI development models: U.S. firms focus on high-cost, high-margin services, while Chinese players like DeepSeek prioritize accessibility and affordability. Facing intense talent poaching from tech giants, DeepSeek is seeking a $44 billion valuation funding round to retain researchers and scale infrastructure. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers are compressing AI models to run on smartphones, making AI accessible offline and across the Global South. Through open-source models and localized solutions, Chinese AI is empowering non-English speakers and low-income users, driving a form of "digital equality." While Silicon Valley builds walled gardens, DeepSeek and others are turning AI into a public utility—like tap water—flowing freely to those previously left behind.

marsbitHá 59m

OpenAI Goes Left, DeepSeek Goes Right

marsbitHá 59m

Trading

Spot
Futuros
活动图片

Categorias popularesright-arrow

Etiquetas Popularesright-arrow