The global eSports market is currently experiencing incredible growth, attracting millions of viewers, and is projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2032.
The broad accessibility of eSports is a large part of its appeal, but its rapid expansion has also led to significant setbacks, including the reality that fraud in the online gaming sector increased by an average of 64% year-over-year between 2022 and 2024.
Disputes over esports wagering and fraudulent activity undermine the competitive nature of eSports for millions of players, issues that significantly limit accessibility and create a notable trust gap in the industry.
After suffering from this problem first-hand while playing online with his friends, blockchain expert and gaming enthusiast Oluwaleke Fakorede saw an opportunity to bring transparency and security to the eSports space.
His solution, GoWagr, leverages blockchain technology to eliminate fraud, automate payouts, and redefine trust in esports wagering.
Let’s take a closer look.
The Inspiration Behind GoWagr
GoWagr came about during a friendly game of FIFA between Oluwaleke and his friends. They had bet on the winner, but when the time came for the losers to pay up, things descended into a contentious dispute. Oluwaleke was left stunned by the lack of trust and transparency in even a casual esports wagering amongst friends, and he wasn’t the only one. Around the same time, Oluwaleke’s GoWagr co-founders experienced fraud when a Fantasy Premier League administrator disappeared with their funds.
After these negative experiences, Oluwaleke wondered: “What if we could create a platform where participants secure their stakes beforehand, ensuring automatic and guaranteed payouts to winners?”
The answer lies in blockchain technology, which is known for its immutability and transparency. Oluwaleke’s deep technical expertise gained through stints at Binance, Yellowcard, and Nestcoin and their love for gaming perfectly positioned him to develop GoWagr as a solution to these widespread issues in eSports wagering.
What GoWagr Does
GoWagr was ultimately designed to fulfill one primary goal: providing a secure, transparent esports wagering community for eSports enthusiasts. Through this blockchain-powered platform, users can securely create and participate in informal wagers across various topics, events, and games without worrying about fraud and fake commitments.
When users sign up for a GoWagr account, they gain access to:
- Wager Marketplace: users can find and post wagers within the marketplace, which fosters a trusting community of engaged participants and upfront opportunities.
- In-App Wallet: users have access to in-app wallets they can use to easily make deposits and withdrawals in their chosen currency or stablecoins like USDT.
The GoWagr community prioritizes safety at all times by providing easy wager tracking and management within a blockchain-based solution that eliminates the risk of fraud or unfulfilled commitments. GoWagr also incorporates safety-led innovative solutions, such as Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Contest technology.
This groundbreaking system aims to address the problem of FPL administrators disappearing when the time comes to pay, which is what happened to Oluwaleke’s co-founders. It also makes it possible for users to facilitate their own FPL Contests within GoWagr itself.
This way, players can focus on applying their football knowledge to earn rewards without worrying about security or fair play.
Oluwaleke Fakorede’s Expertise & Future Vision
GoWagr is the culmination of a lifelong passion for technology and gaming. It started when Oluwaleke began disassembling electronics as a child, a hobby that led him to master several programming languages by the time he was fifteen.
Oluwaleke made his first step into the technical world when he became a Google Developer Student Club Lead, a role that saw him educate more than 2,000 students on emerging technologies. From there, Oluwaleke took roles at Binance and Yellowcard Financial, where he built scalable blockchain solutions. In 2023, he was named among Tekisite’s Top 100 Tech Talents in Nigeria, and he went on to win 2024’s Global Entrepreneurship Festival’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
GoWagr is the culmination of these achievements and has already helped countless gamers make over $2 million since its inception. On his future vision for the platform, Oluwaleke says: “Our mission is to create meaningful value for gamers by combining integrity, trust, and entertainment.”
This goal is already coming to fruition thanks to GoWagr’s focus on user-centric innovation and high-quality service, which Oluwaleke intends to maintain throughout the platform’s growth. With a plan to scale GoWagr to reach over one million users, Oluwaleke hopes to create a global platform that integrates blockchain technology into gaming on an unprecedented scale.
From FIFA to the Future of Gaming
From a simple FIFA football match to a groundbreaking blockchain platform, Oluwaleke Fakorede’s story is a testament to the power of innovation and persistence. Born from a lifelong passion for games and technology, GoWagr is created for the fans, by the fans, with a unique insight into what the blockchain can bring to gaming.
As well as solving the critical trust issues and inconsistencies that are seen too often across the world of eSports wagering, GoWagr sets the stage for a future where we’re all free to enjoy secure, transparent, and rewarding gaming experiences.
As Oluwaleke and his team continue to scale GoWagr, they’re not just building a platform; they’re redefining trust in gaming.
Check it out for yourself at GoWagr.app.
Kyle Lewis is a seasoned technology journalist with over a decade of experience covering the latest innovations and trends in the tech industry. With a deep passion for all things digital, he has built a reputation for delivering insightful analysis and thought-provoking commentary on everything from cutting-edge consumer electronics to groundbreaking enterprise solutions.
