Josh Andrews

Bitcoin Mining Has Just Been Banned in Small New York Town

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Plattsburgh, a small lakeside town in northeastern New York has banned the establishment of new bitcoin mining firms for the next year and a half citing the fact that the miners have been exploiting its low-cost electricity. This comes at about the same time that the New York public utilities arm gave a ruling that allowed the municipal power authorities to charge higher electricity rates for cryptocurrency miners.

The town which is quite close to the Canadian border put the one and a half year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining in a bid to preserve its natural resources, the health of its residents as well as the “character and direction” of the city. Thus, for the next 18 months, the city will not be considering any new applications for commercial cryptocurrency mining. Breaking this rule will attract a fine amounting to $1,000 daily for the period that the moratorium is violated.

“It is the purpose of this Local Law to facilitate the adoption of land use and zoning and/or municipal lighting department regulations to protect and enhance the City’s natural, historic, cultural and electrical resources,” Plattsburgh officials said after holding a public hearing on the matter Thursday.

Cryptocurrency mining is the process by which mining firms or individuals get paid with cryptocurrencies for running complex mathematical equations on high-powered computers in order to confirm the validity of transactions. This process needs enormous computing power and thus is very energy-intensive hence miners will almost naturally be drawn to areas with significantly lower electricity costs. Thanks to its hydropower plants and the subsidies that some of the municipal power authorities allow on the electricity, some parts of New York are able to offer electricity rates that are as competitive as the Chinese bitcoin mining market. Furthermore, the naturally lower temperatures in the state also significantly reduce the cost of cooling facilities at the mining firms.

It Is a Positive Move, Some Agree

While this might not be a favourable ruling for cryptocurrency miners, one local bitcoin mining operation, Plattsburgh BTC, has expressed its support for the ruling. David Bowman, the founder and CEO of the bitcoin mining firm said in an email that the move was a positive one for both the city of Plattsburgh and crypto mining as a whole.

“We will be actively working with the city right away to find solutions that work in all of our interests, like possibly shutting off the machines if we are in danger of going over the city’s quota, looking into energy recapture as a way to heat buildings,” he added. “Anything is on the table.”

Two More Major Esports Player Associations Are in the Works

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Esports just keeps getting better and better in almost every way possible with the most recent development being the move to put together player associations to cater for professional video gamers who play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s association will include players in the FACEIT ECS as well as the ESL Pro. It is led by attorney Michael Doi and Esports broadcaster Scott “SirScoots” Smith.

In an interview with Sports Business Journal, Scott Smith said that the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA) will not be looking to establish itself as a United States Union simply because Counter-Strike players originate from many different parts of the world. However, the association will be working towards signing all of the 255 professional players.

“Every day I sign another guy,” he said. “I would say 70 or so have signed an official membership document that they are for the players association, are behind the players association, they want to be in the players association.”

There has not been any official news regarding the Overwatch players association but the officials have confirmed that formal details on the same will be availed in around four months. The Overwatch player association efforts are being led by former player and Overwatch coach Thomas “Morte” Kerbusch and sports labour attorney Ellen Zavian. It is reported that the Overwatch association is likely to be modelled after existing U.S. unions like the National Football League (NFL) Players Association.

“I don’t see this [players association] as any different than any other PA just because it’s eSports,” Zavian said. “So this isn’t something that will be a lighthearted step. This will be a big step.”

If the two associations are formed successfully they will be joining the Riot Games’ League of Legends players association that is ran by Hal Biagas. Esports player associations are still in the very first stages of development but many agree that it is certainly a logical step for competitive video gaming as it draws nearer to being a mainstream activity, just like traditional professional sports.

Nevada’s Anti-Online Poker AG Running for Governor

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Nevada’s Attorney General Adama Laxal on Tuesday announced via his Twitter account that he had officially filed the necessary paperwork to run for the state’s Governor this fall. This particular move has caught the eye of the gambling community, especially poker enthusiasts since the lawmaker is extremely against online poker and he has been very vocal about it.

Laxalt’ stance with regard to online poker became known towards the end of 2015 when he confirmed that he would be signing a letter with some other state Attorney Generals in support of Sheldon Adelson’s Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) bill. Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the renowned Las Vegas Sands Corp., is known for being a Republican donor and his passionate campaign towards having online gambling completely outlawed in the United States. This is despite the fact that online gambling is now legal in four states, a number that is likely to increase soon, and that a number of Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s competitors like Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts are backing online gaming.

The aspiring Governor reiterated his position in 2016 in a letter addressed to the then newly-elected Donald Trump Administration. In the letter, Laxalt, along with nine other state Attorney Generals asked for online poker to be banned. However, unfortunately for them, President Donald Trump, who happens to be a former casino owner and operator took a neutral stance in this case.

Furthermore, the online gambling ban at the federal level is rather unlikely owing to the vast bipartisan opposition. In fact, a decent number of stakeholders and interested parties have pointed out that a ban of such kind will violate states’ rights. Laxalt, who allegedly has other controversial ties to Adelson, has been strongly rebuked by fellow Republican, Sandoval, over this.

“I am very concerned that anyone representing the state’s legal interests would speak out against current state law in our leading industry,” Sandoval said. “At its core, this is a state’s rights issue and I disagree with the Attorney General that a federal government one-size-fits-all solution is in the best interest of Nevada.”

Sandoval is the former state regulator that signed Nevada’s online poker legislation. He also brokered the online poker liquidity sharing deals with Delaware and New Jersey. Both of these actions were an effort towards growing or nurturing the regulated online poker market.

Dafabet Closes UK-Facing Online Casino amid Regulatory Heat

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Renowned online gambling operator Dafabet has recently announced that it will be exiting the United Kingdom’s online gambling market, a move that is speculated to have been triggered by the ongoing regulatory pressure within that particular field.

Dafabet’s United Kingdom-facing online casino stopped accepting deposits from its customers last week on March 8. The players now have up to Tuesday, March 20, to withdraw their funds from the online betting site. Fortunately for the operator’s customers, their player balances will be automatically returned through the deposit methods they used to register if the will not have made withdrawals by the specified withdrawal deadline. Also, sports betting fans have nothing to worry about as Dafabet also assure their users that the sports betting operations will not be affected by the closure of their casino business.

As it stands, Dafabet is the most popular and the biggest brand of Philippine-based AsianBGE, its parent company. Its operation in the United Kingdom is backed by a license from the UK Gambling Commission but this is not the only place it excels at – the operator also sponsors Premier League’s Burnley F.C. Dafabet signed a £2.5-million sponsorship deal with the football club for the 2017-2018 football season which represents a £0.5 million increase from the previous soccer season.

UK’s Prevailing Storm Regulatory Atmosphere

The UK Gambling Commission recently discovered multiple violations by a number of its licensees and now, in conjunction with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), it has begun a regulatory crackdown that targets the erring operators as well as their affiliate partners.

The nature of the violations that the UK Gambling Commission range from breaches of advertising codes to inadequate anti-money laundering controls among a few others. The CMA has taken action with the most recent being in the form of a written warning that was addressed to a number of online gambling operators. The writing specifically pointed out the terms and practices that the operators have put in place to obstruct their customers from accessing their funds. These included the unreasonably low withdrawal limits, the short deadlines for players to verify their identities in order to be allowed to withdraw their funds as well as the so-called “dormancy” terms that allow the operators to confiscate customer funds after a given period of time when the customer accounts have had no activity.

The UK Gambling Commission will be working with other regulators in changing the rules and ensuring that both new and existing operators are probed more stringently to ascertain that they truly are capable of fully complying with all the laid out regulatory laws, terms and conditions.

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).