versus Launches as the U.K. and Canada’s First Regulated Prediction Market Platform

versus, a regulated prediction market and news platform, launched in the United Kingdom and Canada this week, becoming the first such service licensed for mainstream consumers and marking an attempt to bring a category long dominated by offshore, cryptocurrency-based operators into the regulated market.

The platform lets users take real-money positions on the outcomes of real-world events across politics, culture, finance and sport. It is built natively for iOS and Android and is available in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. It accepts Apple Pay, Mastercard and Visa debit cards, and e-wallets. Unlike the largest prediction market platforms by global volume, which operate offshore and require users to transact in cryptocurrency, versus is fiat-based and verifies the identity of every user.

versus combines the markets with a news product the company says is the first of its kind: a free, fully ad-free news service. An in-house team verifies stories before publication, hand-curated commentary from X and Reddit appears alongside each one, and a proprietary assistant called versus AI answers user questions about a given story using the most recent live data, sometimes not even written in any article yet. The platform also features versus Awards and versus Leaderboards that recognise the users with the strongest track records, turning accurate forecasting into a visible, competitive pursuit. The company says the design lets users read about an event, see the public reaction to it, research it and take a position on its outcome within a single application.

“The news and the markets were always two halves of the same thing,” said David Worldorf, the company’s founder and chief executive. “People read about an event and form a view. Until now they had to go elsewhere to act on it, usually offshore, usually after buying cryptocurrency first. versus puts the reading, the research and the decision in one regulated place, and you pay with Apple Pay like you would for anything else.”

The category’s best-known platforms, Polymarket and Kalshi, are restricted by regulators from serving users in the United Kingdom and Canada, where neither is licensed. versus enters those markets as the licensed alternative.

The company is launching in the United Kingdom, Canada and Latin America, and says the combination of its licences gives it the broadest jurisdictional footprint of any prediction market operator, extending also to parts of Europe. versus holds operating licences from the U.K. Gambling Commission (000-101143-R-342325-001) and the Tobique Gaming Commission, and is, in addition, currently pre-approved at Tobique for further markets. The platform is operated by WORLDORF Ventures LLC, which markets and runs the product under versus Inc. The company says it raised its first closed investment round at a valuation of $10.6 million.

Worldorf says the platform is intended to be more than a venue for placing predictions. “We are not building an app whose only purpose is to predict on outcomes,” he said. “versus is a place of debates and minds. We want to foster curiosity, sharpen people’s skills, offer genuine entertainment, and become a global, verified news app that people trust. The prediction market is one layer of that, not the whole point.”

Worldorf says two years of building the markets taught the company how to design against the unfairness that affects the category. versus screens strictly for insider trading, blocks automated and bot activity, and verifies every participant. The aim, he says, is to move the platform away from the widely cited industry figure that around 90% of prediction market and trading-app users lose money over time. The company plans to introduce a free educational programme, versus Academy, eight weeks after launch, built with industry experts and focused on forecasting and decision-making.

“An operator running a transparent, fair market benefits when its users are better informed, not worse,” he said. “That figure, that almost everyone loses, is the industry’s quiet shame. We built versus to be the opposite of it.”

For Worldorf, the project is also a statement about how products should be built. “versus is my homage to product engineering,” he said. “It is built on the philosophy Steve Jobs stood for. A product should not only create joy and progress for the people who use it. It should inspire entire industries beyond its own to build better products. That is the standard I hold versus to.”

versus is available now in the United Kingdom and Canada on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

About versus

versus is a regulated prediction market and free ad-free news platform launching in the United Kingdom, Canada and Latin America in 2026, with licensing that also covers parts of Europe. Within a single native application for iOS and Android, it combines verified news, hand-curated commentary from X and Reddit, a proprietary artificial intelligence assistant called versus AI, versus Awards and versus Leaderboards, and real-money prediction markets across politics, culture, finance and sport. Founded in 2024 and built single-handedly by 28-year-old David Worldorf, the platform is operated by WORLDORF Ventures LLC, headquartered in Dubai, and marketed and run under versus Inc. versus holds a UK Gambling Commission operating licence (000-101143-R-342325-001) and a Tobique Gaming Commission licence. For more information, visit www.versusapp.com.

Disclaimer

Prediction markets involve financial risk and may not be suitable for all users. Users should only participate with funds they can afford to lose. Availability of services may vary by jurisdiction and is subject to local laws and regulatory requirements. versus operates under applicable licences in approved markets only. Nothing in this release constitutes financial, investment or legal advice. Past performance, rankings or forecasting accuracy do not guarantee future results.

Media Contact

David Worldorf
Founder and CEO, versus Inc.
press@versusapp.com