Augur Is Live: Decentralized Prediction Market Launches After 2-Year Beta

Now, the Forecast Foundation, the not-for-profit behind Augur's development, has announced the launch of the long-awaited platform, which was accompanied by the release of the final version of the Augur application as open-source software.

At the same time, he added, "Once Augur is live on the mainnet" - that is, once it's live on the ethereum blockchain - "We have no more control over Augur than anyone else does."

What distinguishes Augur from a traditional betting market is that no single party sits in the middle, meaning that users are likely to pay lower prices.

In Augur's system, the creator of a prediction market designates a "Reporter" to vet the outcome.

Augur's white paper argues that fees on the platform will go "As low as market forces can drive them," providing those placing bets with an attractive alternative to current offerings.

"If Bitcoin gave us decentralized currency and Ethereum brought decentralized computation, Augur will enable a decentralized financial system."

Before Augur can overhaul the global financial system it has to attract users.

Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of the cryptocurrency investment fund Multicoin Capital - which he said does not currently own any REP tokens, but is following the project closely - told CoinDesk that the Augur team wants a "Slow and steady" launch - nothing "Loud [and] crazy."

Echoing Kysar, Miller said Augur would be "The most complicated dapp to ever launch on ethereum."

In Miller's view, even modest demand for Augur could lead to a situation similar to the one caused by CryptoKitties at the height of its popularity, when the ethereum network slowed to a crawl and transactions became inordinately expensive.