Inspiration
Betting on games with friends is fun until the money part. Someone holds the cash, the loser gets chased on Venmo, and a $5 bet turns into a week of reminders. I wanted it to be as easy as sending a text, with nobody holding the money.
What it does
textbet is an AI agent in iMessage that turns a game into a shareable betting market.
- DM the agent: "create a bet for ASU vs Texas Tech"
- Confirm the game and get one link to share
- Friends open the link, pick a side, choose an amount ($1 to $20), and pay
- Winners split the pool and are paid automatically when the game ends, and the agent texts you the result
Stakes sit in a Solana escrow, so nobody holds the money. Cancelled games and empty sides refund everyone. The agent never touches funds.
How I built it
- Agent: Python and Claude Haiku over iMessage via Photon. Haiku only identifies the game. Code handles everything involving money.
- Backend: Python on Render with Supabase, including the oracle that reports results.
- Escrow: A Rust (Anchor) program on Solana that holds the pool and pays out.
- Deposit page: A mobile page on Vercel with sponsored fees, so friends need no SOL.
It runs on Solana devnet with test USDC.
Challenges I ran into
Group chat access needed a paid business line, so I pivoted to a DM based flow. I also moved from matched bets to a shared pool, which meant reworking payouts and fees, all while building solo.
What's next for TextBet
Group chat support, more sports, and a compliant path to real money.
Built With
- claude
- javascript
- python
- rust
- solana
- typescript
