The leadership of ADI Predictstreet, the predictions markets firm that blasted its way onto the scene via the World Cup earlier this year, sees widespread adoption and acceptance of its industry as a historical inevitability.

In the 19th century, British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston championed the legalisation of the Limited Liability Company (LLC), defying fierce, universal resistance from the rich, the poor, both Houses of Parliament, the Palace and the Church. 

By pushing this financial innovation through, Palmerston secured what many believe to have proven to be a profound, century-long competitive advantage for Britain. 

Now, you’re probably baffled by the fact that you have just read two paragraphs about a Prime Minister from 19th century Britain on a sports betting and iGaming publication. 

Well, Dimitrios Psarrakis, Chief Executive Officer of 2026 FIFA World Cup official partner ADI Predictstreet, views prediction markets as standing at a similar crossroads.

Psarrakis, a former European Parliament policymaker, asserts to SBC News that event contracts placed on predictions platforms are not gambling vehicles, rather a new financial asset class at the forefront of “experiential” or “immersive” finance. 

For Psarrakis, who sees the scrutiny prediction markets have faced as similar to the pushback against crypto assets during his time in the European Parliament, prediction markets are merely waiting for their own “Palmerston moment”.

Of course, there is the other side to this. Many people, policymakers included, believe prediction markets to be similar, if not the same as, gambling. These include national gambling regulators as in the Netherlands and France, and various state ones in the US.

ADI Predictstreet’s World Cup catalyst

ADI Predictstreet is a new player on the scene. We at SBC News were surprised by how quickly the company burst onto the spotlight back in April – you World Cup viewers may have been just as taken aback in June when the firm’s logo was consistently on your screens via LED advertising boards across the stadiums. 

Psarrakis is quick to note the importance of the World Cup partnership while the business is still in its embryonic stages, but affirms that this is just the beginning for ADI Predictstreet.

“Our strategic partnership with FIFA was the catalyst of our branding strategy. We immediately gained global recognition and brand awareness that boosted our approach to prediction markets,” he tells SBC News. 

“ADI Predictstreet, through FIFA, transformed the prediction market concept into a mainstream product for 5.5 billion people, moving it out of the obscurity of a comparatively small audience. This is a fact. 

“It is also a fact that branding works at the top of the marketing funnel. There is a lot of systematic work that we do across the different stages to reach the customer acquisition we require at the bottom of the funnel. 

“A full-funnel marketing strategy requires licenses in local jurisdictions. We avoided full-funnel marketing in places we do not have license because we insist on a responsible marketing policy for our products. 

“The World Cup was part of a global – not local – marketing strategy that put in motion our expansion into local markets. Our market expansion started with FIFA, but it will be realised by the acquisition of licenses in different key jurisdictions that will allow us to perform full-funnel marketing.”

Not all plain sailing

ADI Predictstreet’s emergence as one of the new major players in the global predictions markets space has not gone without its struggles. 

Firstly there is trading volume, or for a while the reported lack thereof. The firm’s platform launched in April, but trading volume was pretty much non-existent until the World Cup got underway as the firm conducted beta testing of its new product.

Psarrakis is coy on that front and asserts that the strategy thus far has allowed ADI Predictstreet to gain “brand awareness, a wide client base, increased trade volume and revenues”. 

It is an inevitability, in any industry, that it would take time for consumers in the space to adjust to a new player.

Like many other prediction market platforms – namely Kalshi and Polymarket – it has not gone without scrutiny too though. 

The business was banned in Germany after the German gambling regulator, the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), launched proceedings against the company over its unlicensed offering.

It is Europe that seems to be the tough nut to crack for ADI Predictstreet and the rest of the prediction market contingent, though it was the Psarrakis-led firm that made the first breakthrough. 

The business became the first prediction market to be licensed in Gibraltar. Since then, the European jurisdiction has created its own prediction markets framework. 

Whether further European expansion awaits is still yet to be seen, though Psarrakis does have an interesting perspective on regulation. 

“We do not just have a plan of expansion; we are already executing a systematic market access strategy that will allow ADI Predictstreet to become – very soon – a global prediction platform that operates lawfully in key jurisdictions in four continents,” he states. 

“I do not see regulatory fragmentation as a hurdle but rather as a strategic opportunity. Being a former regulator myself, I feel very comfortable operating in an environment of regulatory multiplicity.”

The wide array of ADI Predictstreet partners

A gung-ho approach to growth seems to have been the initial course of action. 

ADI Predictstreet partnered with DAZN to enhance its ecosystem of live and on-demand sports viewing, real-time scores, news, betting, gaming and FanZone.

Just before the 2026 World Cup kicked off, its own platform didn’t seem set for launch. 

It then announced two major white label deals – one with Matchbook in the UK and the other with Fanatics Markets in the US. 

Further ties with predictions giant Kalshi and tech firm BetConstruct were signed, as the company looks to speed up the scaling phase and become “the global ecosystem for prediction markets”.

On this strategy, Psarrakis comments: “Strategic partnerships are central to our strategy. Rather than simply building another destination platform, we’re building the global ecosystem for prediction markets.

“Each partnership strengthens a different part of that ecosystem. For example, DAZN expands consumer reach, Fanatics extends US distribution, BetConstruct broadens operator access, and Kalshi and Matchbook deepen liquidity and market access.

“At the same time, we are actively growing the reach and impact of our own platform. These efforts taken together have dramatically accelerated awareness, expanded global distribution and allowed us to produce the scale in months it has taken our respective rivals years to build.”

It does seem strange, for want of a better word, that Kalshi, a platform one would think ADI Predictstreet should be looking to challenge for market share, is in fact one it is making a deal with. 

During the 2026 World Cup, Kalshi reported $27bn in trading volume. Meanwhile, there were talks of low trading volume on official partner ADI Predictstreet throughout the tournament. 

Psarrakis is coy when discussing the numbers, but asserted that partnering with FIFA achieved the objective of “transforming the prediction market concept into a mainstream product for 5.5 billion people, moving it out of the obscurity of a comparatively small audience”. 

On partnering with Kalshi, he is quick to point out the benefits. 

“Kalshi is an established prediction market operator that we are strongly motivated to work with to achieve two strategic ends: first, to grow prediction markets globally, and second, to establish prediction markets as a mainstream, distinct asset class,” he says. 

“Our partnership with them is consistent with our partnership strategy with Web2 incumbents. As discussed, there are Web2 partners who wanted to enrich their product portfolio with our prediction market offering, there are Web2 partners who want to test a Web3 model with us, and we have Web2 partners who want to access our unique assets. Kalshi falls in the third bracket. 

“Many people have asked me why I want to partner with my competitor. I reply that Kalshi cannot be our competitor. 

“We at ADI Predictstreet, being a Web3 entity, understand the evolution of experiential finance in a very different way from the incumbents who, as we see, rather converge to a certain point on the production possibility frontier. Our effort is to differentiate, not to converge with them.”

Will the naysayers be kept quiet?

Whatever people’s opinions are on prediction markets, it is clear to see that ADI Predictstreet is a massively unique entity no matter whether you’re a fan of it or not. 

It’s also clear to see that the man at the helm has major ambitions despite a start that has caused much confusion.

A partnership with FIFA, not least the FIFA World Cup, is some statement for a company in its early stages, as are partnerships with established firms like Kalshi, DAZN, Fanatics and Matchbook. 

With the World Cup now way behind us but a massive season of domestic football just kicking off, it will definitely be one for the broader ecosystem to keep tabs on. 

Regulators and sceptics will be keeping a close eye on it too, however, and the wider prediction markets sector as the industry’s value and reach continues to grow .. and with it, so does controversy and scrutiny.

Psarrakis concludes: “Prediction markets represent the next major evolution of the digital economy, one that will fundamentally transform how people engage with information.

“I’m glad to lead what I expect to be a category leader in a short period of time and to build the differentiated infrastructure that can help prediction markets scale globally against this backdrop.”