Josh Andrews

Alibaba Endorses Non- Violent Esports Titles for Olympics

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Alibaba Group Holding Limited has come out to publicly promote the inclusion of competitive video gaming among other Olympic games so long as the games do not feature elements of gore or violence. The company, which is the largest e-commerce company and also an Esports business operator in one of the sponsors of the Olympics Games through to 2018. The games that the e-commerce company is endorsing for the Olympics include soccer, car racing among many Olympic-friendly games.

This move will essentially ban some of Esports most beloved titles from the Olympics. For obvious reasons, League of Legends, as well as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, will definitely not make the cut for Olympic inclusion. The two Esports titles are distributed by Tencent Holdings Limited in China, one of Alibaba’s competitors.

Esports has grown to become one of the biggest entertainment businesses, drawing in spectators to huge arenas where the video gamers compete for prizes and glory. Statistical projections see the business soaring to up to $5 billion in annual revenue from ticket sales, broadcast rights, advertising and merchandising.

“In our communication with the Olympics committee, we’ve come to have a better understanding of their values, which is to promote peace,” Alisports chief executive office Zhang Dazhong said in a telephone interview. “That’s why for the future development of esports, we will focus more on titles that are actually related to sports, instead of games that focus on violence and slaughter.”

Alibaba has been very serious about its venture into Esports – it is investing $47 million in Esports this year through to march. The company will also be hosting the World Electronic Sports Games this week and being a member of the International Olympic Committee, Alibaba officials will also be attending to observe.

According to Zhang, game producers will need to be open to the idea of having to share their intellectual property for free at events. Also, the titles need to have a considerably large fan base to be considered for the Olympics.

“We think as a third party Esports organizer we’re a better match for principles that the Olympics promotes, which is fairness,” Zhang said, adding that Alibaba will boost its investment in its Esports unit in 2018.

India Can’t Regulate Bitcoin, Says Former Indian Bureaucrat

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India has been struggling with regulating cryptocurrencies for quite some time now mostly because of the strong aversion the governments has towards digital currencies but they are yet to ban any. Now, a former Indian top finance ministry official insists that bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, should be completely banned in the country.

Shaktikanta Das, who is a former secretary of economic affairs, believes that regulating bitcoin is going to be quite tough and thus the only feasible alternative would be to outlaw their use. Das headed the Indian government’s first panel that was set up in April 2017 in a bid to understand and recommend necessary regulations pertaining to cryptocurrencies. Currently, Das is a member of the 15^th finance commission which has been tasked with reviewing the financial situation of the present government.

“Let us accept that it would not be possible to regulate it effectively. Because they will do transactions from their houses. You cannot enter every home to check what transactions are going on. So, I think this is a serious challenge, and this should not be allowed at all,” Das said.

The Indian government’s aversion to cryptocurrencies can be traced back to 2013 when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) warned its customers against the potential security threats that were associated with digital currencies. Despite this, and multiple other warnings from the country’s ministry of finance and the RBI that followed since then, cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity even among people who were considered to be “conservative” Indian investors.

Why Das’ Opinion Matters

Shaktikanta Das has held a number of key positions in India’s ministry of finance including being the head of the departments of economic affairs and revenue. He has also served as a board member of the Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India – both institutions play a monumental role in the drafting of cryptocurrency regulations in India.

Das argues that since the Reserve Bank of India is the only institution allowed to issue currency in India, cryptocurrencies are essentially illegal. He further pointed out that cryptocurrencies are paralleling present financial frameworks without any backing from legal provisions.

“There is the danger of cryptocurrencies leading to money laundering, terror financing, and unaccounted transactions. It will pose a serious threat to the financial stability not only of India, and in fact more, in the case of the developed world,” he added. “It’s a serious challenge and threat to global financial stability.”

MARVEL’s Heather Antos Leaves for Editor-in-Chief Role

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Marvel Comics’ assistant editor Heather Antos is leaving the comic book publisher to become the Editor-in-Chief of Esports betting platform Unikrn – the position was previously held by Ryan Jurado, who has now been reassigned to be the betting platform’s Head of Global Content.

Antos, who previously worked as a comic’s editor on Unlawful Good: An Anthology of Crime, produce on a number web series such as Lagged Out and a journalist for sites like Geek Legacy, has been an Assistant Editor at Marvel Comics since 2015. Her work as an editor at Marvel Comics, principally for the Stars Wars and Deadpool franchises saw to the tremendous growth of both lines of comic books which has earned them very strong critical and commercial success over the past couple of years. Also, this made the star editor herself a public face for Marvel Comics both on social platforms as well as every popular comic convention we can think of.

In 2017, Heather Antos also became the focus of online harassment that led to the #MarvelMilkShakes solidarity hashtag from across the comic book industry. Apparently, Antos will be leaving Marvel Comics simply because she has been presented the opportunity of a lifetime at Unikrn, and not because of any issues that may have come up between her and her former employer.

“Plot twist! In today’s chapter of the Heather Antos Chronicles, I’m making a leap from Marvel comics to video games & Esports as editor-in-chief of Unikrn,” Antos tweeted. “It’s been a long-time goal of mine to branch out into the video game & competitive Esports world. To do so under the guidance & leadership of Rahul Sood and Ryan Jurado is something I never would’ve thought possible. I absolutely cannot wait to dig my heels in & get running!”

Antos will be tasked with managing and overseeing all the editorial content, tournament coverage, podcasts as well as video content.

A Little Insight into Unikrn

The Las Vegas, Nevada-based Unikrn is considered to be the world’s best Esports betting platform – its success can be attested by the many offices they have across some of the world’s most popular cities such as Berlin, Germany and Sydney, Australia.

The Esports betting platform primarily offers real money wagering as well as token-based betting on nearly all the available competitive video gaming tournaments from across the world. Unikrn essentially creates betting markets on Esports in a manner that can be likened to the way traditional sports betting is operated. The platform’s users are allowed to bet legally free from any part of the world using Unikrn’s own cryptocurrency that is referred to as Unikoin. Players from the United Kingdom and a few other areas are even allowed to place bets using real money but this number is likely to grow in the near future.

Sands Exits Pennsylvania Casino Market as Online Poker Nears

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Last fall, Pennsylvania legalized online casino despite strong opposition from billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson who owns and operates Las Vegas Sands Corp. The company has been operating a casino-resort, Sands Bethlehem, for years now but the establishment is being sold off before the United States Supreme Court delivers a ruling that will bring legal online gambling in the state.

Sands officially announced on Friday that the company had entered into an agreement to sell the Sands Bethlehem casino-resort for a whopping $1.3 billion to a group known as Wind Creek Hospitality which is an affiliate of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama. The $1.3 billion itself is not a bad return for Las Vegas Sands Corp., per se, since the property was built for $743 million before it was launched in 2009. Since then, Sands Bethlehem was among the most successful casino businesses in Pennsylvania’s $3 billion-a-year casino gambling market.

As mentioned earlier, since Sheldon’s the company is not really pro-online gambling, the sale is sort of a reaction to the legalization of online poker to Pennsylvania even though it came months after the state made the ruling. However, Sands Bethlehem is not the only gambling establishment that has felt the pinch – a good number of the other Pennsylvanian casinos have been forced to go back to the drawing board and find out how they can compete in the online space.

“Sands Bethlehem has become one of the leading regional entertainment and gaming destinations in the United States and we are extremely proud of the positive contributions the property has made for Bethlehem and eastern Pennsylvania,” Sheldon Adelson said in a statement about the sale.

Sands Bethlehem has maintained a great track record of success in Pennsylvania especially due to its 36-table poker room that is considered to be among the best places in the state. Fortunately for the casino’s customers, the casino’s management has assured players that the sale will not affect its operations and they can continue enjoying everything that the casino-resort has to offer.

New Bill Proposes Legalization of Sports Betting in New York

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On Wednesday, a new bill aimed at legalizing sports betting in New York was introduced thus adding New York to the growing number of states that have been pushing for similar legislation ahead of the landmark decision from the United States Supreme Court regarding the lifting of the nationwide ban of sports betting. So far, this bill appears to be the most serious attempt yet to legalize single-gaming wagering at gambling joints in New York.

The bill, that was introduced by State Senator John Bonacic, who also happens to be the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee chairman, seeks to have professional and college sports betting permitted. The bill further proposes that the state will be taking 8.5 percent from the casinos’ gross revenue – this could bring in an estimated $10 million to $30 million to state coffers every year.

However, the legislation remains dependent on how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the New Jersey bid to overturn a federal ban on sports betting that is still in effect in all but four states. Bonacic confirmed that New York will be backing New Jersey and the other states since they believe that sports betting in the United States will eventually be legalized.

“New York State has historically been behind the curve in dealing with developments in the gaming world, and it has been to our detriment,” Bonacic said in a statement. “If allowed, sports betting will be a revenue enhancer for education in New York. We have the chance to ensure our sports betting statute is fully developed and addresses the needs of the state and all stakeholders so we can hit the ground running if and when we can authorize and regulate sports betting.”

According to Sen. Bonacic, sports betting could be a great financial boon for the state, especially for education. Bettors in the United States make as much as $200 billion in illegal bets every year according to various statistics.

Crypto Prices Drop Amidst Trader Suspicion of Binance Hack

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The major cryptocurrencies on Wednesday experienced sharp price drops as reports of system errors at Binance, a renowned crypto exchange, got many investors into a bit of a panic. At the same time, digital currency traders also had to digest reports that major United States regulators are demanding for the registration of all cryptocurrency exchanges.

Binance is considered to be one of the biggest exchanges in the world – CoinMarketCap reports that it is one of the top 4 biggest exchanges for the most popular cryptocurrencies in terms of the traded volumes. Prior to the Wednesday crash, a number of users noticed something highly unusual with Viacoin – that is, a huge increase in buy orders for the cryptocurrency after which its market capitalization jumped from $64 million to $159 million in just a few moments. A probe into the matter revealed that there were lots of unauthorized sell orders going around.

“We are investigating reports of some users having issues with their funds. Our team is aware and investigating the issue as we speak,” the Binance team wrote on Reddit. “As of this moment, the only confirmed victims have registered API keys (to use with trading bots or otherwise). There is no evidence of the Binance platform being compromised.”

Binance later announced that it had halted withdrawals so as to look into what the company referred to as “unauthorized market sells.” The company further stated that there was no evidence that the platform had been compromised at the time.

The impact the alleged Binance hack has had on the market is quite significant. 360 Blockchain USA president, Jeff Koyen pointed out the concerns surrounding Binance resulted in the plunge of the prices of bitcoin and several other digital currencies as well.

“All of crypto is getting battered right now, based on fears that Binance was hacked,” Koyen stated.

SEC Crackdown Played a Role

A number of market analysts have also pointed the price drops to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent decision to subpoena a number of firms that either deal in cryptocurrencies, or are associated with them. A large number of the subpoenas were specifically sent to companies that are selling digital token through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

Zero Edge Is Set to Solve the ‘House Always Wins’ Problem

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With hundreds of online casinos springing up on the web each and every day, online gambling is as popular as ever and it is surging forwards rapidly as well. While their seemingly inexhaustible popularity cannot be disputed, online gambling has one major flaw that is tied directly to how many of the online casinos are operated.

If you are familiar with gambling, then the saying “The house always wins” must have flown by you a few times since it even dates back to the very first land-based casinos in Asia and Europe. This is a popular statement essentially because it is very true.

Zerocoin to the Rescue

“All casino games, whether they are found in traditional brick and mortar establishments or online, have one thing in common – the odds are always stacked against the player. Players might be winning for a short period of time and think that they cracked the code, but in reality, they are just “running hot” and sooner or later the variance will do its job to favour the house” explained ZeroEdge.Bet CEO, Adrian Casey. “Most of the players are unaware of the mathematical principles that make beating the casino virtually impossible. Therefore, our goal at ZeroEdge.Bet will be to educate players about gambling and prevent them from falling victims to its traps.”

Zero Edge Casino uses its own Zerocoin, its own in-house cryptocurrency in a bid to solve the age-old problem of the house always winning. This is going to be achieved by completely getting rid of the “house edge” altogether which essentially means that for the very first time in history, players will have a true and fair shot at winning the online games they play at Zero Edge Casino.

Zero Edge’s concept has already penetrated the European and the Middle East gambling markets and is now on the verge of completely taking the Asian online gambling market by storm. The online casino operator is essentially turning the casino industry on its head through the introduction of this revolutionary new and different way for online casinos to make profits without having to exploit their customers. The model instead focuses on profiting by increasing the value of the operator’s digital assets through wider adoption and utility.

To play at Zero Edge Casino, players must first buy Zerocoins but this is a fairly small price to pay considering the goodness of playing with the zero percent house edge that the online casino offers. As more players learn about this incredible offer, they will certainly buy into it which will increase the demand for Zerocoins and, in turn, exponentially increase the cryptocurrency’s value. Things are indeed looking up for the company, and for the rest of the online gambling community as well.

German FA President Opposes Induction of Esports As Sports

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According to Reinhard Grindel, the President of Germany’s Football Association (DFB), Esports is not a sports activity thus the induction of competitive gaming into the Olympics is bizarrely absurd. This was on Sunday 4^th March 2018 when the members of Germany’s social democratic party opened the way for joining the country’s government as a junior partner in a grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel. This new development came with more certainty that Esports could soon be recognized as sports in accordance with guidelines set out by the coalition governments.

As it stands, Esports has amassed over 250 million players from all around the globe which makes for a steadily growing market that currently rakes in more than a billion dollars every year. This is more than what a decent number of traditional Olympic sports federation can manage, even when combined. However, despite the heavy lobbying that was required to have Esports acknowledged as real sports as well as increasing amount of support that it has been amassing, there are many critical opposing voices that are still not convinced. Thus, apparently, the debate about whether Esports should be considered as “real sports” is not even close to coming to an end.

“The biggest competition to kids coming to our sports club is not handball or basketball, but the use of digital equipment. That is absolute impoverishment,” Grindel said, as reported by Reuters. “Sport plays a social function and this happens in the community. With sport, you have direct contact with those you play. Soccer is home to the green turf and has nothing to do with other, computer generated things. For me, Esports is not sports.”

Furthermore, the Grindel pointed out that he his opinion on the increasing amount that children and young adults spent on mobile devices to be “eine absolute Verarmung,” which can roughly be translated to “a total degeneration.”

There are, obviously, underlying interests on both sides of these debates and this makes it more complex than what people think is happening on the surface. Esports is inherently a for-profit industry and this is especially true for the industry players that have been backing it. The people on the opposing side, like Grendel, are also fighting to protect their market shares. Unfortunately, Esports is catching up quite quickly.

In November 2017, the International Olympic Committee would only consider having Esports as a component of the Olympics if Esports did not “infringe on the Olympic values.” This means that Esports games that feature explosions, violence and killing had to be ruled out.

Leagues Push for a Cut of Sportsbetting Revenue May Deter It

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While sports betting in all other parts of the United States outside the state of Nevada is on the verge of being legalized, there are a couple of new developments that are likely to affect the process in a rather negative way.

According to Twitter’s vice president of Analytics, Jeff Ma, even as the major sports leagues like the National Football League and the National Basketball Association become aware of the multibillion-dollar opportunity that sports betting offers, their approach towards getting a piece of the will end up impeding the ability to lead gamblers away from illegal betting and offshore operators. Ma also said that the NBA, in particular, has proven to be “short-sighted” by requesting a 1 percent cut on all the bets placed on its games.

If you are unfamiliar with Jeff Ma you might be wondering what a Twitter VP has to do with online sports betting. Well, Ma was once one of the leaders of the infamous MIT blackjack team which inspired the movie 21 and a book titled Bringing Down the House. He is a renowned expert in the gambling industry and has an incredible understanding of how the professional sports leagues work or operate – he even once served as a consultant for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and the NFL’s Francisco 49ers.

“Traditionally, a lot of the leagues are run by lawyers so they think about how do we protect our assets, they don’t think about how do we monetize our assets,” Ma said in an interview with CNBC during the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “In this case, they are thinking protect and charge people money instead of focusing on the bigger opportunity down the road.”

In Ma’s opinion, a partnership between the professional sports leagues and the sports betting operators will definitely be a better alternative especially at the earlier stages of the industry’s growth after the ban on sports betting is lifted. He also pointed out that while the flat fee off the top that the leagues are advocating for could certainly be feasible in the long run, the market will need to grow significantly before that.

Operators in the Crosshairs as New Austrian Regulations Loom

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The Ministry of Finance in Austria is in the process of scrutinizing the Gambling Act in the country in a bid to introduce some new amendments that will certainly have a huge impact on the country’s local online gambling market. To be more specific, the revised Gambling Act would potentially ban all the foreign gambling operators and even go as far as requesting that the operators to refund the players for all the losses they have accrued at the said casinos for the past 30 or so years.

This Ban Is Not the Solution

Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of the revised Gambling Act is the proposition that the all the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country should ban the IP addresses belonging to all the gambling operators that are currently operating different online gambling business to Austrian gamblers. Just like in Germany, all of these online gambling sites are not sanctioned by the state and it is, therefore, safe to say that they are operating in a grey area. As such, all those that have stopped or are planning to stop marketing their services and products in Austria are to be blocked.

This does not sit well with quite a number of people. Without reading too much into the situation, it is quite clear that the ban will effectively create a monopoly which will favour Casino Austria, which, as it turns out, is the only site that is licensed in Austria – Casino Austria is also partially owned by the Austrian government. Experts and avid followers of the casino industry believe that the move to ban other reputable operators will have negative effects on the industry and ultimately drive the gamblers to unregulated and unlicensed sites.

Even though it is rather obvious that the IP ban will go against the spirit of freedom for service provision in the European Union, the Austrian ministry of finance is hell-bent on seeing it through. This resulted in an idea that the ministry hoped would keep unlicensed foreign operators away and prevent them from trying to find a workaround to bypass the ban.

To be more precise, the ministry proposed that all contracts between players from Austria and unlicensed operators over the past three decades should be considered to be null and void. The operators would, therefore, have to return all player loses since the period stipulated by the proposed plan. Still, the legality and enforceability of this law are still highly questionable, the Austrian Ministry of Finance hopes that the threat alone will serve to keep foreign and unlicensed operators at bay.

There are a number of companies that are already getting ready to fight for their rights using all the legal resources they have. All of these operators have no issue paying their dues but they are not willing to allow the country’s authority take advantage of their power in order to create a monopoly something that even the European Union itself will not accept as well.