SX Network vs Novig
| Attribute | SX Network | Novig |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 | 2021 |
| HQ | Toronto, Canada | New York, USA |
| Type | Decentralized Sports Betting Blockchain & Exchange | Peer-to-Peer Sports & Event Exchange |
| Regulated | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (CFTC (Designated Contract Market via Ludlow Exchange)) |
| Valuation | — | $300M+ (2026) |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Prestige | 72% | 72% |
SX Network (originally launched as SportX) was founded in 2019 by former trading floor professionals Andrew Young, Jake Hannah, and Julian Wilson in Toronto as a peer-to-peer Web3 betting exchange built to eliminate middleman margins and limit restrictions.
Operating as an EVM-compatible Layer-2 application chain leveraging Arbitrum Orbit and Polygon technologies, SX Network provides custom sports orderbook infrastructure, non-custodial smart-contract escrow settlement, and native cross-chain wagering capability.
Full profile: SX Network →In 2021, Harvard undergraduate Jacob Fortinsky was earning serious profits as a quantitative sharp bettor — until traditional sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel systematically limited his account stakes to pennies. Frustrated by an industry that bans winning customers while charging 8% to 10% hidden house margins (vigorish), Fortinsky teamed up with his computer science classmate Kelechi Ukah to eliminate the house entirely. Their premise was simple: build an institutional-grade financial exchange where sports fans trade spreads and totals directly against each other. After joining Y Combinator's Summer 2022 batch, Novig raised a $6.4 million seed round in August 2023 backed by YC founder Paul Graham, NFL legend Joe Montana, and Lux Capital, laying the engineering groundwork for a zero-commission order book.
Novig's path to scale was defined by rapid regulatory pivots. The company initially launched in early 2024 as a state-licensed sportsbook in Colorado, but quickly recognized that state-by-state sports betting licenses were too slow and capital-intensive. In September 2024, Novig radically restructured into a dual-currency sweepstakes platform utilizing "Novig Coins" and "Novig Cash," allowing it to instantly expand across 40 U.S. states, including non-sportsbook giant markets like Texas and California. Trading volume exploded 50-fold, attracting an $18 million Series A led by Forerunner Ventures in August 2025. However, as state attorneys general began launching aggressive legal crackdowns on sweepstakes gambling in late 2025, shutting down operations in New York and New Jersey, Novig faced an existential crisis that threatened to erase its state-level access.
Full profile: Novig →