The most popular sweepstakes sportsbook is looking to enter the prediction markets space.
As reported by DeFiRate on Thursday, Fliff submitted an application to become a Futures Commission Merchant with the National Futures Association. Applying via Fliff FCM LLC, the platform is also applying to become a licensed swap firm.
This move is notable, as it’s a significant pivot for the leader in sweeps sportsbooks and an indication that there is not as much money nowadays in dual-currency sweepstakes gaming — which has come under intense scrutiny over the past two years, leading to a shrinking market.
There is no word yet as to whether Fliff will maintain its sweeps platform if approved by the NFA, or if it will fully pivot to prediction markets, like ProphetX did earlier this year.
Also on Thursday, fellow sweeps sportsbook Onyx Odds applied for the same license under Onyx Markets LLC. Another sweeps sports platform, Rebet, has had an application pending since June.
The ProphetX precedent
When you go to ProphetX today, there is no trace of its sweeps gaming past.
Up until June, though, when it received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission it was still up in the air as to whether ProphetX would maintain any type of sweepstakes platform.
In a November 2025 interview with Sweepsy, ProphetX co-founder Jake Benzaquen said he wasn’t sure how his company would handle its offerings in the future.
“It’ll be a decision when we ultimately achieve CFTC approval whether to shutter sweeps or not,” Benzaquen told Sweepsy, “but that’s not a decision that we’ve made at this point.”
Still, even at that time, Benzaquen was wary of the future of sweeps gaming.
“There’s obviously been a lot of movement in the industry to get rid of sweeps and to ban sweeps,” he said. “I think most of that is as a result of social casino rather than social sportsbooks. It’s moved a lot quicker than we anticipated but was always something that we knew was coming down the pipeline.”
The prospect of being a prediction markets platform, on the flip side?
“Obviously, the ability to launch in all 50 states subject to CFTC approval is one that we’re looking forward to,” Benzaquen said at the time.
Fliff has made big changes before
Fliff has been no stranger to pivots in this new evolving marketplace where sweeps operators are being forced to adapt — and adapt quickly — to new laws and restrictions.
On Jan. 1, the same day Sweeps Coin (or Fliff Cash in this case) gameplay went offline in California, Fliff users in California and elsewhere gained access to Superstars, a real-money, peer-to-peer daily fantasy sports product built around the same pool-based format at platforms such as Underdog and PrizePicks.
The expansion into DFS was clearly a new way to continue generating revenue from a market — California — that had just become unavailable under its previous model. Superstars initially launched in 11 states, including California, Utah, Kansas and Minnesota.
Then, later that month, Fliff changed how its currency packages appear when users browse the store in Fliff Cash mode. It began putting the redeemable currency front and center, while removing Fliff Coins from the store display.
Still, to this day, when in Fliff Cash mode, currency packages simply show the price in dollars alongside how much Fliff Cash the player will receive for free, rather than showing the Fliff Coin amount being purchased.
The transaction is the same: Users buy Fliff Coins and receive Fliff Cash as a bonus. But the user experience stands out in an industry where Gold Coins are usually the focal point of the purchase, and Sweeps Coins presented as an afterthought perk. While the change wasn’t illegal, its timing was notable and could be seen as a response to the changing sweeps landscape at the time.
Where this pivot stands among significant operator changes
Clearly, we’re seeing “Hey let’s go try our luck in the predictions space” as a growing strategy pivot for sweeps platforms operating in the sportsbook space. That’s just one of many pivots we’re seeing, however, from the sweeps gaming industry at large.
Many changes from sweepstakes casinos have come in the form of alternative gaming models to the dual-currency model that’s facing all the intense scrutiny — including single-currency models, subscription models, advanced deposit wagering games, online skill games, and live real-money bingo.
We’re also seeing pivots that add in dimensions outside gameplay models, too — such as platforms like AceBet.cc attaching their free Sweeps Coins to actual physical products (trading cards) players purchase and receive in the mail; Modo.us launching Modo Boxes, which is essentially a gamified loot box arm to the platform; and AceBet.cc again popping up here with its Surveys and Offers section, which allows players to complete third-party surveys or download third-party apps and complete certain milestones to receive free Sweeps Coins.
So Fliff’s move this week is just one of many as sweepstakes gaming faces what one prominent gaming attorney told Sweepsy is an “inflection point” for the industry.
“Where what is acceptable today might not be acceptable tomorrow, said Josh Kirschner, the Deputy Team Leader for Holland & Knight’s new Gaming Practice.
“What I see is what happens in growing and evolving industries all the time, which is regulators and legislators catching up to issues, and then those who are already in the space innovating and responding to that legislation and regulation in a new way.
“And it’s not some game of cat and mouse, necessarily. I think it’s what is healthy in any industry — that you start with nothing but blue sky, and then you move, respond, fade, jab, and step back as there becomes reactions to what those are, and you find new pathways. I think this is a very healthy place.”
