Underdog Expands Prediction Market Surveillance Through Eventus Partnership

Eventus, a provider of trade surveillance and financial risk solutions, is providing its Validus platform to Underdog for monitoring activity on the company’s designated contract market (DCM), as the sports prediction market and fantasy sports operator expands its exchange operations.

Trade surveillance and monitoring procedures are already active across Underdog’s markets, with the company continuing to broaden its use of Validus capabilities as its marketplace grows.

Underdog launched its own federally licensed prediction market exchange in July. The exchange is wholly owned and operated by Underdog and licensed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), giving customers additional ways to express their opinions on sports, culture, and other subjects through the existing Underdog app.

Separately, Underdog has partnered with Birches Health to expand the responsible play resources available to users, including gambling disorder education and confidential pathways to specialized care through the Responsible Play hub in its app.

For Underdog Exchange Chief Compliance Officer Nick Thompson, Eventus’ established reputation among regulators, including the CFTC, was one of the factors that made the platform a fit for the company’s surveillance requirements. He also pointed to Eventus’ experience working with exchanges, futures commission merchants (FCMs) and broker-dealers.

“Underdog’s mission is to build markets people can trust, and that starts with rigorous oversight. Robust trade surveillance isn’t a compliance checkbox for us; it’s core to maintaining a fair, orderly market as we scale. We take our responsibilities very seriously as a market operator, and we’re investing in institutional-grade surveillance infrastructure proactively.”

The need for surveillance technology capable of supporting Underdog’s expansion was another consideration behind the deployment of Validus. As trading volume and the range of products increase, the company said its surveillance infrastructure needs to scale alongside the business.

“As our volume and product set continue to grow, we need surveillance technology that grows with us. Validus’ configurability lets us tailor alerts and monitoring procedures to our specific market structure rather than adapting our business to fit the tool. We’re also excited about Eventus’ investment in automation and machine learning.”

Thompson also brought prior experience with the Validus platform to Underdog’s implementation.

“I’ve used Eventus' Validus platform since 2019, first as CCO of a high-frequency trading firm, and later to lead swap execution facilities and DCMs through the thorough CFTC application process, where the surveillance demonstration is the centerpiece. Surveillance is where my compliance career started, not just a function I oversee. Eventus is the platform that’s kept up with that standard across every environment I’ve deployed it in.”

Eventus CEO Cameron Routh said the growth of prediction markets has increased the importance of effective surveillance infrastructure as the sector receives greater attention.

“Prediction markets are one of the fastest-growing and most closely watched corners of finance, and the surveillance bar has to match that scrutiny. Underdog is building in that oversight from the ground up, rather than treating it as an afterthought, and we’re proud Validus is the platform they trust to do it. Partnerships like this shape our roadmap directly, and are why Validus keeps getting better for prediction markets, traditional capital markets, and digital assets.”