Matchbook has followed last year’s expansion into prediction markets with a significant scaling of its global reach via a takeover of rival exchange Betdaq.
In Matchbook’s home market of the UK, the acquisition brings the number of major betting exchanges down to four, with one big fish engulfing another.
The other three dominant exchanges in the market are the Betfair Exchange, Spreadex and Smarkets.
Matchbook has tied the acquisition to the global growth of prediction markets, which the company states has driven renewed demand for peer-to-peer betting models like the traditional exchange.
Ronan McDonagh, CEO of Matchbook, said: “Betdaq and Matchbook grew up proving the same idea — that bettors get a better deal when prices are made by a market rather than a margin.
“A quarter of a century on, that idea is winning: exchanges and prediction markets are bringing peer-to-peer pricing to new audiences around the world, and this acquisition deepens the pool at the heart of everything we build.”
Matchbook’s 20 year makeover
Matchbook was founded in 2004, and is headquartered in Alderney in the Channel Islands, while Dublin-based Betdaq was founded in 2000 by Irish businessman, racehorse owner and ex-Manchester United and current Celtic stakeholder Dermot Desmond.
In 2026, Matchbook has been significantly ramping up its activity in prediction markets and B2B activity, making the former a key part of the latter. In December 2025 it became the first UK firm to launch a prediction markets platform amid the sector’s growth in the US.
Its prediction market activity has given it a lot of exposure over the past six months. Most notably Matchbook signed a white label deal with ADI Predictstreet, the official prediction market partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, back in June.
And despite gross gambling yield (GGY) for betting exchanges decreasing again across the UK in 2025/26, the company has been gradually increasing its market share, according to McDonagh.
This latest move will increase that market share imminently, rather than gradually, but it is yet another example of Matchbook aiming to evolve in a market where growth has slowed in the sector, yet there remains so much opportunity due to the similarities between exchanges and the increasingly popular prediction markets sector in the US.
Matchbook’s stated objective is to combine its pricing, liquidity and technology with Betdaq’s status as a heritage betting exchange brand to create a deeper overall pool.
Betdaq customers will still be able to access its trading services until 21 October. Account withdrawals will remain operational until 4 November, with customer funds protected in accordance with all regulatory obligations.
McDonagh concluded: “Our first priority through this transition is Betdaq’s customers: their funds are safe, their options are clear, and in one combined pool they should find better prices and deeper liquidity than either exchange could offer alone.
“Everything we are doing — this deal included — is about making the exchange first choice.”
Article co-authored with Patrick Killeen and Viktor Kayed
