With $21 million in funding, how will Bluff build the next-generation entertainment-oriented prediction market?

Amid a crypto bear market, Bluff, a next-generation prediction market platform, has secured $21 million in strategic funding. The round was led by 1kx, with participation from Makers Fund, Maximum Frequency Ventures, Delphi Ventures Founders, and NBA star Tristan Thompson.

Product Vision: Bluff is not a traditional prediction market. It positions itself as an entertainment-oriented social betting platform that blends gaming, prediction, and social interaction. It targets pain points of existing platforms like slow settlements and complex verification.
Core Features: The platform offers real-time prediction markets on sports, politics, and entertainment, simplified binary outcome betting, and allows creators/KOLs to launch custom prediction events for their communities.
Technology & Accessibility: Built with a blockchain-native design, it uses Layer 2 solutions for instant transactions (under 1 second average). Users can participate with just a wallet connection, avoiding cumbersome KYC.
Traction & Funding Use: The beta version has already attracted over 650,000 users and generated more than $10 billion in trading volume. The new funds will accelerate technology iteration, product optimization, and a global rollout.
Team & Backers: The core team includes veterans from major betting/gaming companies like Stake and Bet365. Investors bring expertise in gaming, high-frequency trading, venture capital, and sports, with Tristan Thompson aiding in brand promotion to attract sports fans.

Bluff aims to carve out a niche against established players like Polymarket by emphasizing social features and entertainment, though the long-term success of this model remains to be seen.

Written by: Mach, Foresight News

On February 4th, amidst a crypto bear market, venture capitalists continued to invest in the prediction market sector. Bluff, a prediction market platform, completed a $21 million strategic funding round, led by 1kx, with participation from Makers Fund, Maximum Frequency Ventures, Delphi Ventures Founders, and NBA superstar Tristan Thompson, among others. The company stated that the funds will be directly used to accelerate the platform's technological iteration, product optimization, and large-scale deployment, propelling Bluff from its beta testing phase to global user access.

The English meaning of "bluff" is to make a show of bravado. In popular culture, bluff is often associated with poker, e-sports, and other similar scenarios. It has a relaxed and exciting tone, which aligns with Generation Z's preference for unconventional and intellectually challenging content.

Bluff's funding stems from the crypto industry's continued enthusiasm for prediction markets and betting entertainment. Since 2025, prediction markets like Polymarket have repeatedly broken trading records, but traditional platforms still face issues such as slow settlements, cumbersome user verification, and regulatory uncertainty. Bluff targets these pain points, positioning itself as a next-generation online betting platform that emphasizes social features, real-time interaction, and a blockchain-native design.

Entertainment-oriented social prediction market

Bluff is not a simple prediction market, but a comprehensive platform that integrates betting, prediction, and social interaction.

Core features include real-time prediction markets, allowing users to bet on sports events, political events, or entertainment hotspots, such as the 2026 World Cup champion or the Oscar for Best Picture; binary result betting simplifies the process, requiring only a yes/no selection, making it suitable for beginners. Creator community events allow KOLs to create custom markets, such as "A celebrity's new song has exceeded 100 million plays, and users can participate to earn points."

Open the Bluff official website and you're immediately struck by its distinctive style.

Bluff blurs the lines between gaming, prediction, speculation, and entertainment. It features binary outcomes, customized markets, original Bluff content designed from the ground up, and personalized experiences tailored to player behavior.

Bluff is building an ecosystem where attention, risk, culture, and capital converge.

Bluff enables instant transactions using Level 2 blockchains, eliminating the need to wait for block confirmation. Users can participate without cumbersome KYC procedures, requiring only a wallet connection, making it more accessible than traditional platforms. The platform supports multiple blockchain assets, such as USDC and ETH.

Beta testing data shows an average transaction speed of less than 1 second; social features integrate with X and Discord, allowing users to share predictions and form betting groups, increasing user engagement. Compared to other products, Bluff surpasses Polymarket's single-event prediction, incorporating stake-like sports betting and Azuro's social layer. Future plans include AI-assisted prediction, NFT rewards, and cross-platform live streaming integration.

Bluff also offers a VIP matching program that allows users to seamlessly transition from traditional platforms such as Stake, Shuffle, and Rollbit to Bluff, providing more convenient text services through 24/7 VIP dedicated customer support.

Currently, its beta version has exceeded $10 billion in transaction volume and has over 650,000 users.

A seasoned team is starting a new business, with NBA star Klay Thompson participating as an investor.

Bluff's core team comprises several veterans of the betting and gaming industry, with an average of over 15 years of experience. However, many of its top executives are currently remaining anonymous.

The founder and CEO is a former executive at Stake, who led Stake to grow from an initial annual trading volume of over $10 billion. The CTO comes from Bet365, where he was responsible for the architecture design of the world's largest sports betting system, ensuring that Bluff's engine could handle thousands of transactions per second. The COO joined from Bodog and is well-versed in localization strategies for the Asian and Latin American markets.

The team consists of approximately 30 people, 80% of whom have a crypto background, including a former Polygon engineer responsible for blockchain integration. Bluff emphasizes a "practice-oriented" approach, with many team members having participated in regulatory negotiations, such as EU GDPR compliance and US KYC optimization.

In terms of the investor lineup, Makers Fund is known for its investments in gaming and entertainment, managing over $2 billion in assets and having participated in funding rounds for Epic Games and Riot Games; Maximum Frequency Ventures (MFV) focuses on high-frequency trading and Web3 innovation; and Delphi Ventures Founders bring venture capital experience, having led early-stage funding for multiple crypto projects. The addition of NBA star Tristan Thompson also injects a sports pedigree into the team; he will be involved in brand promotion, aiming to attract more sports fans to crypto betting.

Polymarket has garnered attention for its political events, Kalshi has grown rapidly with its compliance and sports initiatives, and Bluff needs to find its own differentiation if it wants to gain a share among these giants. Whether its social + entertainment fusion model can withstand the test remains to be seen.

Currently, the first phase of its points program has been launched. Participants can earn points by participating in the activities , which can later be exchanged for the token BLUFF.