Exclusive Interview with Nigel Eccles, Co-Founder of BetHog
In March 2025 we sat down (over email) with Nigel Eccles — best known as the co-founder and former CEO of FanDuel — to talk about his then-new venture, BetHog. The questions and answers below are reproduced exactly as they ran.
Nigel, after your time at FanDuel, what inspired you to co-found BetHog?
A lot of the crypto casino business today reminds us of the market when we started FanDuel in 2009. In both cases we it was very early. Mainstream operators hadn't leaned into the market which meant the market was open to startups.
BetHog operates in the crowded space of online casinos and sportsbooks. What differentiates BetHog from other platforms?
We invest a lot in building unique games and delivering a great product experience. Right now we are delivering a new game every 6-8 weeks. Additionally many of the titles like Jump! and Hogger allow players to play with their friends. On the product side we spend a lot of time improving the first time user experience and the experience for VIP players.
BetHog has chosen a crypto-only approach for payments. What do you believe are the biggest advantages of using cryptocurrency in the gambling sector?
So the first advantage crypto brings is on the cost side. I know many casino and sports book operators where 15-20% of their revenues goes to payment providers. With crypto that number goes close to zero. That means we can give that 15-20% back to our players in the form of rake and loss back. They second area is that crypto has a unique community and culture that we aim to service.
Will you team developing in-house casino games for BetHog?
Yes, we now have 7 titles that we have developed in house. We are releasing them at a rate of one every 6-8 weeks. Some of the titles are our takes on popular titles like dice and mines. However we also have created some really original titles that allow you compete with friends like Hogger, Liars Dice and Jump!
Given the growing influence of social media and streamers in gaming and gambling, do you have a plan to collaborate with them?
Yes, we are already working with a number of streamers. In fact many of the original titles we have developed are really targeted at streamers. We designed them so fans of streamers could play a long with them.
Can you tell us something about the ecosystem around BetHog? Will there be a future token, NFTs, exclusive tournaments or something else that keeps the community engaged with the BetHog brand?
So the answer is yes, all of the above! We really want to release a token to reward our top users. Right now our players are earning XP which is the core metric we will use to calculate their share of the first air drop. Later this year we also plan to run some exclusive tournaments. Our real hope is to create some really fun PvP experiences. Watch out for that.
What are your long-term goals for BetHog? Do you have something exciting to tell our readers?
Honestly, our focus is to just keep building really fun and exciting products. We still need to get some core products out like Plinko and Keno, but we have a long list of ideas of how we can put interesting twists onto existing casino games. Lots lots more to come there.
One last question: what is the welcome bonus at BetHog?
Yes, there is. Contact my colleague Tyler Axon to get set up with our deposit match.
Sixteen months after this interview, BetHog announced its closure. For the full story, see our WagerX Exclusive on the BetHog shutdown and the preserved BetHog forensic audit.