DraftKings Joins Forces With Zero Hash

DraftKings has announced a collaboration with Zero Hash that allows the sports technology and entertainment company to stake digital assets it holds in its treasury to support the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain network. With this collaboration, DraftKings is optimizing its working capital and liquidity as it operates a validator node that contributes to Polygon’s governance and network security.

“Participating in validation supports DraftKings’ broader strategy of building out a robust, sustainable, trustworthy and decentralized infrastructure to help futureproof aspects of our business in the Web3 era,” said Paul Liberman, Co-Founder and President of Global Product and Technology at DraftKings. “We cannot accomplish this vision alone, so teaming up with industry luminaries like the team at Zero Hash in addition to Polygon is essential to our blockchain and related efforts moving forward.”

The leading B2B digital assets infrastructure provider, Zero Hash recently developed a suite of staking-as-a-service products that provide complete back-end API infrastructure and regulatory framework for companies to earn rewards on crypto and fiat holdings in North America. Platforms can earn rewards on owned crypto and offer this service to their clients. Zero Hash abstracts away the complexity of interacting with proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, and its staking services are offered across several blockchain networks and support both B2B2C and B2B use cases. This solution is implemented via Rest API, which allows for seamless staking rewards opportunities to their customers whilst owning the entire client experience.

“Zero Hash’s mission is to empower every fintech and consumer business through access to digital assets,” said Edward Woodford, CEO at Zero Hash. “We are excited to support innovative companies like DraftKings as they look to stake digital assets as part of their portfolio-management strategy. Zero Hash is proud to be the turnkey technology provider for those looking to enter the PoS space.”

PoS refers to proof of stake, a blockchain consensus mechanism for verifying and adding transactions on a blockchain. “Staking” allows native token holders (for example, MATIC holders) to participate in such transaction efforts by locking up or contributing their tokens for a certain amount of time to a validator to potentially receive a portion of staking rewards generated upon the verification of a new block of transactions. PoS protocols have seen enormous growth, with the market capitalization of the top 10 PoS protocols totalling $200 billion at the start of 2022, reflecting growing relevance with institutions and consumers alike.

“We’re delighted to welcome DraftKings as one of the first corporate validators in our network,” said Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon. “As a validator, DraftKings will become an even more active participant in the Polygon ecosystem, playing a critical role in guaranteeing the integrity of the blockchain and securing the network. We are thrilled to have DraftKings as a validator on Polygon.”

Polygon is the fastest growing blockchain with high speed and low gas infrastructure. DeFi bluechip dApps including Sushiswap, Curve, Aave, Balancer, Kyber have all integrated Polygon. This leading Ethereum scaling platform works in parallel with the Ethereum network to improve functionality and promote infrastructure development. Polygon achieves this via its array of scaling solutions, including Polygon PoS, Polygon SDK, Polygon Avail, Polygon Nightfall, and Polygon Hermez.