DraftKings, the popular sports betting app that first entered the prediction markets arena late last year, has launched its own proprietary exchange called DKeX.

"The launch positions the Company to innovate more rapidly through greater ownership over content depth, operating economics, and the end-to-end customer experience," DraftKings said in an announcement Friday.

After first entering the space last December, DraftKings inked a partnership with Crypto.com to "broaden the prediction markets available" to its customers. While industry leaders Kalshi and Polymarket have seen volumes surge amid the World Cup, other players like Coinbase and Meta are also pursuing a foothold in the growing industry.

Prediction markets trading has also attracted controversy, becoming both a political issue and the subject of concerns over insider trading and market manipulation.

In February, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins called prediction markets "a massive, incremental opportunity" and said that the company planned to "deploy growth capital to build the best customer experience ... and acquire millions of customers."