Josh Andrews

Belgium Gambling Laws Declare Video Game Loot Boxes Illegal

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Loot boxes have had a pretty rough time in the past couple of months and the troubles are not likely to go away anytime soon. Just recently, the Netherlands declared that loot boxes constituted gambling and were therefore illegal and now Belgium has made a similar move.

Following an investigation that the Belgian Gaming Commission had been conducting on some popular video game titles including FIFA 18, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Belgian minister of justice, Koen Geens, on April 25 announced the results. Of the four video games, only Stars Wars Battlefront 2 was not in violation of the Belgian gambling legislation but this is only because EA, the company that develops Star Wars, removed loot boxes from the game after some debacles when it was launched.

OverWatch, CS:GO and FIFA 28, on the other hand, still had loot boxes which under Belgian gambling law are considered to be games of chance. As such, so long as they contained the loot boxes the games were illegal and they are forced to remove the loot boxes or “risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros.” The penalties could be doubled in cases where minors are involved.

“Mixing games and gambling, especially at a young age, is dangerous for mental health,” Geens said. “We must ensure that children and adults are not presented with games of chance when they are looking for fun in a video game.”

Loot boxes are by no means a new concept in mobile gaming applications but the recent upsurge in their inclusion in console-based video games have become a huge concern for parents as well as many other responsible parties. Furthermore, the gaming community has been very welcoming to initiatives that seek to have the insidious inventions removed from their games.

While regions like the US and the UK have Okayed the use of loot boxes, the declaration that they are illegal in the Netherlands and Belgium has presented what can be referred to as a dramatic turn for the video game loot box issue. If anything is to go by, game developers in the whole of Europe may be forced to make significant changes to the way the games they develop work, especially because more countries in the continent could launch similar initiatives.

Unlike the case in the Netherlands, Belgium has not imposed a deadline for the implementation of the necessary changes. Geens hopes to approach this is in a different way and this will involve dialogue between the country’s gaming commission and the affected video game developers.

Japanese Government Approves Bill Paving Way for Casinos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On Friday, the Japanese government put aside gambling addiction and antisocial behavior concerns and went ahead to approve a bill that will provide a broad regulatory framework that will foster the establishment of a casino industry in the country. All that remains is for the document, which is referred to as the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill, to be passed the Diet voting – the Diet is Japan’s parliament.

According to Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are aiming to have the bill pass the Diet during the ongoing session that will end on June 20. The Prime Minister hopes that the new casino industry will serve as an attraction for more overseas visitors which will, in turn, assist in providing the much-needed boost to the country’s regional economies outside Tokyo.

However, regardless of how promising the bill is, there is a high likelihood that deliberations will not have ended by the time the Diet sessions ends in June. This is due to the existence of a number of political scandals involving Prime Minister Abe, his minister as well as some ministry officials that have had a disruptive effect on Japan’s parliamentary proceedings.

“We will promote tourism with visitors from all over the world spending days while taking complete measures to address various concerns including gambling addiction,” the Prime Minister said in a government meeting that was attended by related officials.

If the Japanese parliament passes the bill, casinos will begin operating in the country in the mid-2020s. This might happen much earlier in some places – Osaka’s governor Ichiro Matsui, for instance, believes that a casino resort could open in the region by 2023 if Diet approves the necessary legislation quickly enough.

What the Bill Entails

Under the bill, there will be a fixed 30 percent tax rate on any casino gross revenue generated by all the gaming resorts that will be established in the country. Also, there will be a 6,000 yen or $55 entrance fee for Japanese locals – this will only be for a 24-hour access period. Furthermore, Japanese locals will be limited to three casino visits per week and 10 casino visits per month in aggregate, a measure that is probably put in place to assist with gambling addiction. Foreigners are the luckiest bunch in this case since casino entry is free and there will be less stringent limitations if any.

The Japanese government will be introducing a government-managed license system for the casinos in an effort to alleviate some of the concerns that have been raised pertaining to the launch of a casino industry in the country. The system will require operators that wish to obtain gaming licenses to submit business plans and establish measures for preventing problem gambling. In addition to this, background checks will be carried out to ensure that the applicants do not have ties to any organized crime groups.

First Lightning Network Transaction Performed by BitMari

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Having recently crossed the 2,000 mark of active nodes with 5,801 open channels on the main network, the Lightning network is gaining maturity faster than anticipated. The network essentially adds a second layer on top of the bitcoin blockchain which in turn enables super fast and low-cost bitcoin transactions.

As it stands the payment protocol that operates on bitcoin has had its total network capacity roll over to $150,000 – this is a huge milestone for the payment protocol especially considering its age. Still, there is more in store for the technology.

BitMari, Zimbabwean pan-African blockchain-based remittance service startup recently made history by successfully performing the first ever bitcoin transaction using the Lightning Network. The game-changing Lightning Network test transaction was completed with a Nigerian bitcoin trading platform known as Tanjalo. This particular achievement is proof of greater things ahead not just for payments services in Africa but also for the entire bitcoin community since users of the network will be able to make lightning-fast bitcoin transactions at close to zero costs.

Zimbabwe has been struggling with extremely high inflation rates which makes sending money to other countries extremely difficult. This applies across the board to several other African countries where the citizens only have a few money- transfer options thus forcing them to put with the extremely high transaction fees they pay to institutional bankers.

BitMari was founded with the idea of tackling the problems that the continent’s residents face when it comes to sending money across the borders by using the resources of the blockchain technology. With the entry of the Lightning Network, this rapid advancement in cross-border payment will be easier and also happen sooner.

“International average cost of remittance is approximately 7% yet, the cost of sending money to and from Africa can be as high as 20%. 20% is $2 out of every $10. These $2 may mean very little to you and I but in some areas of Africa, it could be the cost of a daily grocery trip,” reads a message on the platform’s website.

In less than five months, the Lightning Network has grown rapidly enough to topple the dominance of the much-touted Bitcoin Cash network. Therefore, its potential as universal payment service provider offers a lot of opportunities in all parts of the globe. All that is needed is a bit of exploration.

Athletes Push for Sports Betting in Connecticut Capitol

Reading Time: 2 minutes

With the United State Supreme Court ruling on sports betting looming, Connecticut is moving closer and closer to a legalized and regulated sports betting industry. It is now even more likely thanks to the backing that the efforts to legalize sports betting have received from professional sports leagues.

Case in point, on Tuesday, two big-time major professional league sports stars brought their star power to the Connecticut capital to push for the legalization of sports betting. Former New York Mets and New York Yankees star Al Leiter and Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell met with the state’s lawmakers in a bid to sway them to support sports betting.

Cedric Maxwell argued that Connecticut has an upper hand when it comes to sports betting simply because the casinos are already there. This claim has been confirmed by Major League Baseball’s senior vice president Morgan Sword who pointed out that Connecticut’s legislature is way ahead of the curve when compared to other states as far as sports betting is concerned.

“We think Connecticut has a real chance to pass a state-of-the-art statute here that could act as a model for other states,’’ Sword commented. “We’ve been very impressed with the level of expertise that these guys have on this issue.’’

Both Leiter and Maxwell expressed confidence in their beliefs that sports betting will be beneficial to basketball, baseball, as well as other sports so long as it is regulated.

“Assuming that the Supreme Court makes sports betting legal everywhere outside of Las Vegas, there’s going to be potential issues,’’ Leiter said. “I don’t know how it’s actually going to play out — whether brick and mortar or existing casinos or online. The more you broaden that, there’s got to be some regulation and some people watching to make sure that everything is done properly and maintain the integrity of the respective sport. … There has to be some oversight.’’

But That’s Not All

Despite the input by the sports stars, the state’s politics will be the major influencer of the final decision. Last week, Joe Aresimowicz, the House Speaker said that it was very unlikely that the legislation would be passed before the current legislative period ends. According to the speaker, the casino expansion and sports betting issues in the state are complex issues that require comprehensive strategies before they are enacted.

“There are just so many moving parts,” Aresimowicz said at a briefing. “We need to figure out what’s best for Connecticut.”

Scholarships: Is Collegiate Esports the Next Big Thing?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ohio’s Ashland University made history last week by becoming the first institution to create a collegiate scholarship for popular Esports title Fortnite. This move has set a new precedent for the school and the entire Esports community as a whole. Instead of centering the Esports scholarship on a specific genre of competitive gaming like many other scholarships have, Ashland University’s offering has narrowed it down a notch. Now, the university had a Fortnite squad alongside its already established League of Legends and Overwatch teams.

Narrowing down to specific Esports games is a truly wise move for Ashland University especially because it will be able to effectively transcend its financial limitations and be able to compete in specific Esports tournaments without ever needing huge investments.

Still, even though it is definitely a bold move, the choice of Fortnite is rather strange. However, the university is banking on the Fortnite’s insane popularity to eventually pay off in the form of a strong and unified league in the near future.

“Fortnite appeals to both the core and casual gaming audience,” head coach Josh Buchanan said in an official announcement on the University’s website. “We’re excited to provide this platform for gamers who want to showcase their skills in a more competitive space. Fortnite facilitates an environment that allows players to get creative, innovate and show off their mastery of their skills. The growth of Fortnite has been astounding to witness and getting players into structured practices ahead of the launch of a collegiate league will be extremely beneficial to our program.”

Eligible Fortnite players can apply for the scholarship which amounts to up to $4,000 and will entail both academics and skill level. The university is even planning to construct a gaming center which will include 25 gaming stations in the institution’s library.

“As part of the program, you’re going to have coaches and a staff dedicated to helping you succeed — not only in the game but also in your academics,” Buchanan added. “Helping to make sure that you have a good social life, and that your physical fitness is on point. All of our athletes are going to have access to our fitness facilities and trainers. And Ashland is known for putting a lot of focus on the individual and having a lot of one-on-one sessions with professors, or small group sessions, to really make sure that we’re personally invested in the students’ success.”

China Bans Online Poker and Its Promotion on Social Media

Reading Time: 2 minutes

According to a report by Inside Asian Gaming, China has launched a crackdown on online poker operation and its promotion in the country. Beginning June 1, online poker will no longer be considered a competitive sport and thus not only will it be illegal but also its promotion via all social media platforms will be banned. The impacts of the ban are already rippling throughout Asia and beyond but the Chinese gaming industry is certainly going to get hit the hardest.

Regardless of the fact that gamblers are not allowed to play online poker for real money in China, the game has grown rapidly partly due to their promotion on social media. Therefore, places like Manila, Macau and Jeju Island in South Korea are certainly going to feel the pinch once the ban is implemented as from June 1.

According to the requirements of the ban, all mobile apps and device software offering any form of social online poker games are to be shut down and removed from the app stores. In addition to this, social media platforms like WeChat will no longer be allowed to promote any social poker offerings, particularly any Texas Hold’em product. The huge implications mentioned earlier emanate from the fact that poker in China to a large extent is played on these apps.

Operators from other parts of Asia are also bound to be affected by the ban specifically because Chinese players make up nearly half of their customers. Playing poker online is one of the main ways for players in Asia to qualify for live tournaments. Even if Chinese players choose to attend live poker events in other places, they will not be in the loop because on the social media ban – obviously, they cannot attend live poker events that they do not know about.

“It is a shame that the government won’t allow people talking about the game,” said Stephen Lai, the managing director of Hong Kong Poker Players Association. “We have been very happy that China has been allowing social gaming, not for money, so that people from China have a chance to practise and travel around Asia and beyond to play poker, where it is legal to do so.
Chinese players won’t have a chance to practise, and they won’t get to know about legal poker events around Asia. Poker has gone back to square one in China.”

While the Chinese government is yet to issue an official statement regarding the decision some operators such Tencent are already making moves to comply with the new regulations. Apparently, Tencent and some other companies are already removing their social online poker apps from the app store.

Poland Imposes New Cryptocurrency Tax Levy Sparking Protests

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Apparently, the United States is not the only place where the crypto-taxation discussion has been a subject of controversy. The Polish Finance Ministry recently issued a tax ruling that will see taxes levied on all crypto transactions regardless of whether they constitute a profit or not. This ruling has sparked a feud between the government and the outraged cryptocurrency traders who have now resorted to protests.

The tax ruling which was published a fortnight ago stated that income form crypto-trading is subject to tax rules and fall under two tax brackets – that is, 18 percent and 32 percent. In addition to this, all the cryptocurrency traders in the country will have to pay a mandatory 1 percent tax on the value of all their cryptocurrency transactions. Furthermore, the taxes that have been imposed on the traders could go as high as a hundred or a thousand times of the traders’ capital investments and this could eventually cripple the crypto trading market in the country.

In response to the ruling, the outraged Polish cryptocurrency traders opted to put together an online petition that argues that the ruling was not only going to wipe out the cryptocurrency community in Poland but will also set the country’s efforts to develop blockchain technology back. As it stands, Poles will be required to file their annual personal income statements on April 30 – the petition that has already been signed by 2,200 people hopes to derail the stipulations of the ruling ahead of this date.

“We are demanding the release of the blockchain technology market and the abolition of all taxes related to this industry,” the petition read. “We want to be active creators of this technology, not just its passive recipients in the coming years, from centralized Polish institutions or foreign entities.”

From a neutral observer’s point of view, the Polish government’s stance on decentralized digital currencies should be enough to keep cryptocurrency traders awake at night. The country’s Prime Minister has previously labeled cryptocurrencies as “Ponzi schemes,” an opinion that is shared by a vast majority of the government officials. As such, the tax levy on crypto transactions stinks of a government-sanctioned attack on digital currencies. But will it be enough to tame the rather spontaneous crypto ecosystem?

Unikrn Acquires Esports Tournament Platform ChallengeMe.GG

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Renowned Esports betting operator Unikrn has acquired peer-to-peer Esports platform ChallengeMe.GG as part of its grand plan of launching “full-blown skill-based betting” to its customers. Scheduled to be launched in May, the Esports betting platform will be launched on Unikrn and will allow the customers to enter Esports betting platforms using UnikoinGold, Unikrn’s in-house virtual currency.

The German-based ChallengeMe.GG has been working closely with Unikrn for quite some time now making the acquisition not much of surprise. ChallengeMe.GG’s management team will be retained under Unikrn’s ownership. Also, the company will keep acting as the matchmaking platform that will be linking players of similar skill levels in leagues, tournaments as well as peer-to-peer challenges. Once it is fully integrated into Unikrn’s platform, ChallengeMe.GG will be able to offer buy-in tournaments using UnikoinGold.

The integration will also involve the inclusion of the Dota 2 events in the ChallengeMe platform. In addition to this, the integration will introduce a raffle system whereby players can earn tickets by completing daily, weekly, and monthly draw missions with the players being awarded cash prizes and gifts from sponsors.

“Joining forces with Unikrn was the ideal match for us. Instead of doing our own initial coin offering (ICO), we can take advantage of the best gaming crypto has to offer: UKG’s ecosystem and technology. Combining the brand-power of Unikrn and UnikoinGold with our world-class tournament & matchmaking platform will provide esports enthusiasts from casual to pro a place to enjoy, compete and be rewarded for playing their favorite Esports titles,” said Simon Seefeldt, the ChallengeMe.GG chief executive.

Unikrn’s acquisition of ChallengMe.GG points to a number of great opportunities for both the company and Esports enthusiasts. For instance, Unikrn will now be offering tournament betting across Europe and North America using its blockchain technology.

“Last October, Unikrn launched the first-ever community CS:GO tournament with a crypto (UnikoinGold) prize pool on ChallengeMe.GG CME,” explained Rahul Sood, Unikrn’s founder and chief executive. “Since then, we’ve been running weekly events, ladders, and challenges with our partners at CME. After that success, we immediately began the months-long process of acquiring them. As we got through the legal process of making this happen, we’ve been strategizing on how Unikrn + CME could be even better. How can we bring unprecedented merger of crypto and gaming and give players around the world revolutionary experiences? Now the acquisition is complete.”
“CME’s platform is beyond its competition, and with their technology and Unikrn’s userbase, endemic reach, brand partnerships, and existing product lines — as well as UnikoinGold, the largest token in esports and gaming history — users are about to see a digital casual-competitive landscape well beyond anything to date conceived,” he added.

There are a plethora of features that will be introduced along the way but generally speaking, this development is a truly promising sign for Esports as a whole as well as the role of the business aspects Esports betting and tournament platforms such as Unikrn.

Disgraced Mt. Gox CEO Appointed as London Trust Media CTO

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The last four years have been pretty tough for Mark Karpelès, the Chief Executive Officer of Mt. Gox, the bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt in 2014 following the loss of 850,000 bitcoins. The situation not only made the former head of Mt. Gox one of the most hated men in the crypto world but also saw him serve a jail term for nearly a year while awaiting criminal trial for charges of data manipulations, breach of trust and embezzlement. This is despite the fact that Mt. Gox was able to recover 200,000 bitcoins – the remaining 650,000 bitcoins are believed to have been stolen by hackers from elsewhere.

“I have no way to be sure that I’ll still be able to work in one year, two years,” Karpelès said in an interview with Fortune in an interview in Tokyo in March. “So I cannot really get a normal full-time job.”

This sentiment by Karpelès clearly indicates that he acknowledges the possibility that he may be sent back to jail. Regardless of all this, he did land a new job as a C-level executive at a U.S. corporation – he will be the new chief technology officer (CTO) of London Trust Media which is paid virtual private network (VPN) service provider based in Denver.

The company also invests in cryptocurrency. In fact, it was an early investor in Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, as well as Purse, an e-commerce startup that allows people to pay for Amazon purchases with bitcoin.

“Mark fought and fell. And although he fell, his skills, experience, and know-how unarguably continue to exist. And so, bringing in a seasoned warrior makes perfect sense to me. I am more than willing to give a second chance to Mark in this fight’s critical hour. I wouldn’t dare say that the person who architected the Titanic should never again architect another ship”, said Andrew Lee, co-founder at London Trust Media and former head of Mt. Gox’s North American operations.

In the interview with Fortune, Karpelès admitted that the new position at London Trust Media was now his main job alongside other five different IT consulting jobs, as well as online video game-related and network communications projects with employers he preferred not to mention. Also, since he is on trial and thus cannot legally leave Japan, Karpelès will only be able to work remotely.

However, even though his new job description puts him in charge of London Trust Media’s cryptocurrency ventures, the former Mt. Gox CEO has been quite open about the fact that he no longer believes in bitcoin.

“Bitcoin right now is, I believe, doomed. Its original promise of being the future of currency is clearly out of reach”, Karpelès said.

He believes that the cryptocurrency may have a lot of trouble evolving, scaling up and keeping up with everything. In addition to this, he pointed to the split between bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash as proof of how polarized the cryptocurrency community is.

Pennsylvania Receives No Bids for Sixth Mini-Casino License

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On Wednesday, April 19, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) held its sixth mini-casino license auction in Harrisburg. The board received no bids for the sixth mini-casino license something that according to experts, puts the auctions of the remaining licenses in a rather tight spot. Already, state regulators are pondering about opening the remaining licenses to bidding by non-casino business in the state or even out-of-state casino operator. This applies to the sixth one as well as it goes to the third and final round of bidding.

The board has the option of opening the field of qualifies bidders that has so far been off-limits to the operators of Pennsylvania’s existing casinos. This decision is yet to be made and once it is made, the board will announce it at a later date. If the board chooses to conduct more auctions, it will have to establish suitable criteria and procedures that will be used to justify the qualification of the entities that wish to bid on the licenses.

It is however very likely that the decision will be similar to the one that was made for the March auction of the fifth mini-casino license. Like the case with the sixth mini-casino license, no bids were received and the PGCB was forced to include operators of two relatively smaller resort casinos in the bidding process. The winning bid, however, came earlier this month when a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming known as Thoroughbred Racing Association offered the board $3 over the $7.5 million minimum.

The Keystone state had planned to auction off 10 mini-casino licenses in an effort to make up for its financial shortfalls. Each of the mini gambling halls can host up to 40 table games and as many as 750 slot machines. So far, the state has been able to amass $127 million from the auction of the first five mini casino licenses – officials originally estimated a total of $100 million for all the 10 mini-casino licenses. Therefore, the initial rounds of auctions might as well be over but we will have to wait for the board’s decision before we can be certain of any developments in this regard.