As prediction markets gain traction, more businesses are looking to add forecasting tools to their existing apps. Gate, a Panama-based cryptocurrency exchange, is seeking to meet that demand with infrastructure that lets companies integrate those features into their own products. Launched in August, the service is open to brokers, Web3 applications and trading platforms alike. The product, called Event Contracts Builder, is part of Gate’s decentralized-exchange infrastructure platform, Gate DexBuilder.
“These companies can quickly integrate prediction market functionality [and] not have to spend a ton of tech resources… to build the entire infra behind it,” Jason Fung, head of Gate DexBuilder, told Fortune.
The exchange’s expansion comes amid an explosion in the popularity of prediction markets. These platforms, which allow bettors to place wagers on virtually everything, are serving as a new way to gauge public sentiment. Kalshi and Polymarket dominate the industry, and consumer-facing businesses have begun incorporating their market data and event contracts into their own products.
Gate itself first entered that ecosystem as a Polymarket partner. Earlier this year, the exchange integrated Polymarket Builder, a tool that lets exchanges and apps offer Polymarket’s existing prediction markets within their own products. Fung said Gate was the first exchange to integrate it. That experience helped shape Gate’s own offering, and inspired it to compete with its former partner.
Besides the Event Contracts Builder, Gate has launched a $3 million grant program to support companies developing event contract products. Fung said the funding comes entirely from Gate and can help cover development costs. Selected builders may also receive technical assistance, marketing support and media promotion. The program is still in its early stages, and Gate is reviewing its first group of applicants.
From gaming to crypto
Before crypto, Fung started his career in media and entertainment, with a focus on gaming. During that period, he lived in Canada and held roles at organizations including media and technology company BroadBandTV and esports website Azubu. Fung later moved to China and spent five years working for tech giants like Alibaba and ByteDance, where he worked on TikTok Global.
He eventually entered the crypto space during the ecosystem’s 2021-2022 boom and bust period, and pursued what he now regards as short-lived Web3 narratives. Exhausted by that experience, Fung transitioned to more established roles, working for the layer-1 Sei Foundation and then AP Finance, the U.S. arm of centralized exchange Bybit.
In July, Fung joined Gate to further expand the globally distributed exchange. Though remote, the 13-year-old company operates hubs in Hong Kong, Japan, Dubai, and Malta, alongside its North American entity, Gate U.S.