ProphetX, America’s #1 sports prediction market, announced the appointments of three senior executives: Jesse Wachtel as Chief Financial Officer, Nathan Busscher as Chief Product Officer, and Damon Mercadante as Vice President of Growth Marketing. The hires represent a significant expansion of ProphetX’s leadership bench as the company advances its pending applications with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to become the first regulated U.S. exchange and clearinghouse with a sports-native foundation, built to scale across event-driven markets.

“As the prediction market landscape continues to evolve, ProphetX is excited to welcome Jesse, Nathan, and Damon to the leadership lineup to drive innovation and accelerate our next phase of growth. Together with the regulatory and compliance leadership we have already put in place, this team is built to win,” said ProphetX CEO and Co-Founder Dean Sisun.

Jesse Wachtel — Chief Financial Officer

Wachtel is a finance and strategy executive with deep expertise in B2B software and the digital iGaming sector. He brings a unique combination of financial rigor and operational fluency, having spent his career working alongside founders, operators, and investors to scale innovative platforms and drive measurable growth. His background spans capital deployment, financial planning, and hands-on leadership within growth-stage environments — giving him a ground-level understanding of how financial strategy connects to product development and go-to-market execution. At ProphetX, Wachtel is focused on building the financial infrastructure and strategic discipline needed to accelerate the company’s position in the market, combining a clear-eyed view of market dynamics with the executional focus that category-defining companies require. Wachtel holds a BS in Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

Nathan Busscher — Chief Product Officer

Busscher brings more than 20 years of experience in electronic trading and financial technology, having built trading platforms, clearing firms, retail broker-dealers, and market infrastructure across senior leadership roles at Click Capital Markets, FNZ Securities, Altruist Financial, and TradeStation. His work has spanned brokerage platform development, clearing strategies, and capital markets distribution systems — including platform redesigns, correspondent clearing initiatives, and the transition to self-clearing. His international experience includes electronic trading and market structure across Asia at Mizuho Securities and Lehman Brothers. At ProphetX, Busscher leads product strategy and execution, bringing the technical depth and institutional knowledge required to build a CFTC-regulated exchange from the ground up. Busscher holds an International MBA from the University of South Carolina and a BSBA from the University of West Florida.

Damon Mercadante — Vice President of Growth Marketing

Mercadante is a seasoned growth and marketing executive with a track record of building and scaling consumer platforms at some of the most recognizable brands in digital media and sports. Most recently he served as VP of Growth Marketing at Sleeper, one of the fastest-growing sports and fantasy apps in the country. Prior to Sleeper, he served as VP of Marketing for Streaming Services at Paramount, where he helped scale Paramount+ from launch to over 60 million global subscribers. His earlier career includes senior marketing and growth roles at CBS Interactive, MC Ventures, and eBay. Mercadante holds a BA in Biology from Yale University and an MBA from The Wharton School.

Last month, ProphetX announced the appointments of Bruce Fekrat as Chief Legal Officer and Gabriel Wong as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer as the company deepens its Washington presence and advances CFTC approval.