The Strange Case of ADI Predictstreet, IHC and the Abu Dhabi Royal Family

ADI Predictstreet was the official prediction markets partner to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and remains in a multi-year partnership with FIFA.

The prediction market company’s pitch-side advertising at the World Cup catapulted the company, founded on March 17, to global prominence, at least for the duration of the World Cup, which ended on July 19.

We looked into the commercial relationship between ADI Predictstreet and Kalshi to find out more about the co-branding partnership as part of our research for a Gambling Insider article on ADI Predictstreet’s trading numbers and strategic plans.

New York-based PR company Teneo, retained by ADI Predictstreet, initially denied its client’s connection to IHC and the Abu Dhabi royal family.

‘No Involvement of Any Member of Any Royal Family’

In an emailed statement last month, ADI Predictstreet told Gambling Insider:

ADI Predictstreet is a Gibraltar-licensed and regulated prediction market platform that operates with its own governance structure and is pursuing its strategy as set by its Board. There is no involvement of any member of any Royal Family. … 

“ADI Predictstreet is built on ADI Chain’s compliance-ready infrastructure, the first institutional Layer 2 blockchain for stablecoins and real-world assets in the MENA region, that is registered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and governed by its Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).”

We found, however, not just multiple mentions of the connection to International Holding Company, but strong evidence linking the company with the Abu Dhabi royals and IHC.

International Holding Company is publicly listed and chaired by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is also the chair of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

The royal family controls IHC through its Royal Group stake. Sheikh Tahnoon also happens to be the UAE National Security Advisor, which suggests he is a key member of the royal family, if his chairmanship of multiple sovereign wealth funds did not already indicate as much.

Who Are the Directors of Predict Street?

We asked N.Y.-based PR firm Teneo for the names of ADI Predictstreet’s directors, but did not receive an answer to that question. We then filed a request with Companies House Gibraltar for the company formation documents.

Our investigation shows that Predict Street Limited is listed as the operator of ADI Predictstreet, as per the license issued by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner. Predict Street Ltd is one of two entities listed as ‘Betting Intermediary (B2C)’ of the 57 listed as of July 20, 2026.

Predict Street Ltd is a subsidiary of Finstreet, which in turn is a subsidiary of IHC. We reached out to IHC to confirm whether Finstreet was a subsidiary, but had not heard back by publication time. Via a document request at Gibraltar Companies House, we confirmed Predict Street Ltd is the ADI operating company.

The Predict Street Limited directors are Akshay Kumar Mahajan, Sunidhi Pasan, and Andrew Peter Montegriffo. Mahajan and Pasan are both residents in the UAE and co-founders of Finstreet, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Pasan is the CEO at Finstreet. Montegriffo is a Gibraltar-based barrister (court litigator).

Following our request for the formation documents of Predict Street Ltd, we discovered that a Norwegian investigative football magazine, Josimar, had already requested them.

Gibraltar, a small jurisdiction at the strategically important southern tip of Spain and remains a British overseas territory, says speedy licensure is important for the country’s position as a hub for gaming companies. It sees prediction markets as a major opportunity for its economy.

There are close connections between the territory’s top law firm and the business and political community, as Josimar reveals:

A partner at the Gibraltarian law firm Hassans, Montegriffo serves its gaming and fintech practice. Hassans, Gibraltar’s largest law firm, counts among its other former and current partners Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister since 2011 and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party, and Health Minister Gemma Arias-Vasquez, who left the practice shortly after she entered parliament in 2023. Nigel Feetham KC, the Finance Minister who expedited Predictstreet’s licence, is another current Hassans partner.

Getting a Gibraltar Gambling License in Just 9 Days is Unheard Of

It turns out that not only did Predict Street Ltd receive its gambling license in Gibraltar just nine days after its incorporation on March 17, 2026, a previously unheard-of short turnaround for any company, newly incorporated or otherwise, but it was already working in association with FIFA before the license was issued.

As anyone who has been following the recent travails of FIFA boss Gianni Infantino will have noticed, due diligence is not the international soccer organization’s strong suit. But it’s dealing with a new gambling company with no track record and, as it turns out, no license, was particularly cavalier.

The relationship between FIFA and Predict Street became public at FIFA’s two-year-old tournament called the FIFA Series 2026. This year’s competition began on March 25 and prominently featured Predict Street as the “presenting partner,” with its branding prominently displayed.

FIFA had seen fit to team up with Predict Street before the new prediction market secured its gambling license on March 26.

The license was granted by Gibraltar Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry Nigel Feetham KC.

Feetham and Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner Andrew Lyman answered questions put by the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) about the due diligence that was undertaken. The two dismissed the concerns raised by GBC journalists as “sensationalist”. 

Both officials mentioned the commercial imperative in getting the license decision over the line.

“There was a concentrated focus of the progression of this licence because of the need to licence before the run-up to the FIFA World Cup,” Lyman commented in reply to the GBC, “but speed does not mean lack of scrutiny (in fact there was a lot of focussed [sic] scrutiny).”

Feetham didn’t explicitly mention the World Cup but couched his comments in terms of economic expediency:

There has been a tendency by certain journalists to focus on sensationalism in coverage of prediction markets, despite their growing relevance globally. If we are serious about economic growth in Gibraltar, we cannot afford to delay engagement with emerging industries.”

Since the granting of the Betting Intermediary license to Predict Street in Gibraltar on July 13, Gibraltar has become the first jurisdiction in the world to pass a regulatory framework specifically designed for prediction markets into law.

The Greek Connection and ADI Predictstreet CEO Dimitrios Psarrakis

The doubts around due diligence at the Gibraltar end are by no means the only concerns being raised about ADI Predictstreet. Josimar has also uncovered links between the company’s CEO, Dimitrios Psarrakis, and Greek politician Eva Kaili, who is embroiled in Qatargate.

The scandal has seen Kaili arrested and charged with corruption, money laundering, and participation in a criminal organization. Prosecutors pointed the finger at Gulf state Qatar as trying to buy influence in its attempt to secure the hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and deflect criticism about its human rights record.

Psarrakis worked with Kaili for eight years and, a year before her arrest, co-authored a book with her. Kaili denies all the charges against her, and there is no evidence that Psarrakis was involved in any wrongdoing. 

Still, just two months before Kaili’s arrest, the pair had set up a lobbying outfit for the crypto and fintech industry called the Brussels Council for Technological Innovation and Global Development. Despite that business relationship, Psarrakis said after Kaili’s arrest that he had not worked with her for two years.

More Red Flags? Insider Trading Charges Against ADI Principal Council Member Raj Bhatia

Moving on from the CEO, we come to ADI Predictstreet’s principal council member, Ajay Hans Raj Bhatia. Bhatia is the CEO of Sirius International Holding, another subsidiary of IHC. 

Bhatia found himself in hot water with the Indian authorities after being charged with insider trading. The charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) were eventually settled in September 2025, with Bhatia banned from trading for six months and forced to pay an INR (Indian Rupee) 1,04,87,903 ($108,973). 

He admitted to no wrongdoing in the case, which centered on allegations that he traded in shares of companies in the IHC conglomerate before the parent invested $2 billion in several of those same companies. 

ADI Foundation States That it Was Founded by Sirius

Meanwhile, there is more evidence in the public domain pointing to ADI Predictstreet’s links to Sirius that we can surface.

On the public code repository where its engineers publish the software that runs the network, the ADI Foundation describes itself as a “project founded by Sirius International — the digital arm of IHC”, the Abu Dhabi conglomerate chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon. 

The ADI Foundation, which runs and maintains the ADI blockchain, provides the same description of its Sirius links on its website.

That is not a claim made by this publication or by a rival; it is ADI’s description of its own parentage, published by the organization itself.

As we have shown, the corporate filings point in the same direction. The company that operates the Predictstreet platform and holds its Gibraltar gambling license, Predict Street Limited, was incorporated with directors drawn from Finstreet and Sirius — the same Sirius that ADI names as its founder. 

And the man ADI has presented alongside FIFA President Infantino as its “principal council member,” Ajay Bhatia, is also the chief executive of Sirius International Holding, which describes itself as a subsidiary of IHC.

These facts are a matter of public record. Together, they describe a single chain of control running from a Gibraltar-licensed gambling operator, through an Abu Dhabi holding structure, to one of the largest sovereign-linked conglomerates in the Gulf. 

ADI Working to Become an ‘Independent Entity’?

The PR for ADI Predictstreet has walked back the hasty initial denial of a connection to IHC and the Abu Dhabi royals, conceding that although Sirius and Finstreet did have those connections, there was never any “direct” involvement of the royal family.

ADI Predictstreet is working to become “an independent entity”, Teneo told Gambling Insider by telephone. The initial denial was blamed on “confusion.”

Given the fallout from Qatargate, maybe ADI Predictstreet wanted to put some clear daylight between itself and Qatar? 

And in its rush to amass profits, perhaps FIFA couldn’t resist following the money after picking up the scent of Gulf gold and jumping into bed with ADI Predictstreet? 

In the absence of ADI Predictstreet management going on the record to exercise their right of reply, industry observers are left to ponder on what the future holds for the upstart.