Tag: Online Gambling

BC.GAME Receives Gaming License from Curacao

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As the world of crypto and gambling continues to come together, several companies are beginning to reap the fruits of it. This is one of the fastest-growing sectors making it a key target for several businesses. Lots are succeeding. Recently, BC.GAME which is one of the fast-rising operators in the world of crypto-powered gaming has been all the buzz.

The company’s ambitious plans to extend its footprint are well on the course thanks to a recent development. It officially received a gaming license from the Curacao Interactive Licensing N.V. That makes it an officially regulated online casino and is a huge milestone for the company as it pursues full compliance.

This is a very big deal. The company has even gone as far as publishing its new license to the Interplanetary File System (IFPS). This platform allows for the storage of files securely in a blockchain in a manner that allows ownership to be easily proven through a private key. It also means that the file cannot be tampered with or even used for unintended purposes.

Speaking on the new development, BG.GAME COO Chris Butler noted the company’s new status as a regulated iGaming operator opens doors for opportunities. For instance, the operator will now be able to offer thousands of third-party games from leading game developers across the globe. In addition to that, the license also creates room for further ventures.  A sportsbook and a live dealer casino offering seem to top the list.

Huge Win for Crypto Gambling

As much as crypto-powered online gambling has grown over the years, it still has a long way to go. The BG.GAME development acts as a beacon of sorts that will likely kick off more growth. It is very difficult for crypto-only casinos to obtain gambling licenses but this is changing. Now that the company has proven that it can be done, many more will probably follow.

BG.GAME currently supports deposits and withdrawals using over 50 different cryptocurrencies which is very impressive. Even the casino businesses that have been around for decades have not been able to pull that off. Understandably, the crypto gambling scene is still picking up pace. We just must appreciate the small wins and acknowledge their role in pushing the whole industry forward.

It is also worth noting that this goes well beyond gambling. A license essentially affirms the legitimacy of crypto use. This should also be a decent way of showing more people that many existing digital currencies are viable and ready for mainstream use.

Trustbet.io Becomes First Brand to Launch on DAOPlatform

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DAOPlatform which is one of the partners of renowned crypto-first company DAOGroup has recently welcomed Trustbet.io to its pioneering online gambling platform. The online gambling operator becomes the very first betting brand to go live on the DAOBet blockchain-based online gambling platform. Needless to say, this is a pretty huge move for both companies as they seek to expand their footprints further in the rapidly-growing crypto-powered iGaming sector.

Trustbet.io’s Expansion Plans

For Trustbet.io, this represents a unique opportunity that will see it benefit from the pioneering online gambling platform while getting to leverage all of the various synergies available on the DAOBet blockchain. The online gambling operator is pretty young and this partnership will certainly act as a catalyst of sorts to its growth.

Thankfully, the Trustbet team was treated to exceptionally rapid deployment with the main points of focus being natively agile design as well as the easy-to-configure deposit and max bet limit feature which comes into play during game selection.

Trustbet.io initially went live via a community-focused launch in mid-August – this turned out to be very successful thus prompting the company to extend its footprint further across a number of jurisdictions including markets in Africa, the CIS, Europe as well as Latin America.

At launch, the online gambling platform online had five casino games to offers its customers. These were Blackjack, Dice, Baccarat, Three Card Brag, and High Card. All of them featured tamper-proof on-chain Random Number Generators (RNGs) that have been certified and approved by GLI. Moreover, the online gambling platform also lets customers enjoy several other perks including instant payouts, no deposit requirements, ultra-fast game finality as well as low-cost transactions.

Another Huge Leap for DAOGroup

Needles to say, the launch of the online gambling site om DAOPlatform is definitely a huge deal for the company. DAO has been working very hard to push its blockchain-based ecosystem and robust range of products and this will assist with that significantly.

“We’re very excited to showcase the DAOPlatform and its cutting-edge performance with such a quality brand as TrustBet.io; and, with their initial success proving the product, we look forward to rolling it out to further brands and help shape the future of iGaming,” DAOGroup’s CCO Glen Bullen commented.

One of the other things that DAOGroup will be pushing as part of its new deal with Trustbet.io is its crypto-fiat gateway DAOWallet. This is a very exciting development for the crypto industry as a whole especially because it implies that even more people or gamblers, in this case, are going to have access to digital currencies.

Cloudbet Adds USDT as It Ventures into Stablecoin Betting

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Renowned crypto-powered sports betting and casino site, Cloudbet has recently announced that it has added a USD Tether to its portfolio of digital currencies. This marks the company’s very first venture into the world of stablecoin betting. Needless to say, this a welcome development that is certainly set to turn heads in the betting and crypto communities.

The announcement of the new venture comes after a month of testing where Cloudbet sought the help of a select number of customers. This testing phase has since come to an end after the company was satisfied with the way everything was working. Now Cloudbet customers have the ability to deposit, withdraw, and place bets using the USDT coin, a popular digital currency whose value is tied to the US Dollar. USDT can be bought on the site using a number of popular payment methods including Apple Pay and several credit cards.

With the site now getting even more attention, Cloudbet has gone a step further by giving more players an incentive to join the fun. This comes in the form of a massive 1,000 USDT welcome bonus for new customers.

The fun does not stop there. Naturally, the company will have to work hard in order to keep improving the platform and. They even have more offerings in the pipeline.

“We’ve accelerated our feature rollouts tremendously, thanks to the systems and processes we put in place to build the new website. The market can look forward to many more new features and new coins in the coming months.”

A Cloudbet Spokesperson.

The spokesperson went on to point out the fact that the launch was part of the company’s wider strategy to empower their customers with the best technology.

Capitalizing on Esports

Earlier in May, Cloudbet launched an esports vertical that was designed to completely enhance the player experience in more ways than any other platform did. This move has since paid off quite decently owing to the fact that it delivered on the promise of a truly exceptional esports experience.

Thanks to the new esports betting vertical, bettors and esports enthusiasts have been able to fully immerse themselves in the action by placing bets on live-stream of esports using crypto. There are tons of betting options including odds for FIFA20, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Dota 2, Overwatch, NBA 2K, Rainbow Six Siege, and CS:GO among others.

The addition of USDT implies that an even larger number of people will now be able to use the platform. USDT may be a great option for those who are skeptical about crypto especially considering the volatility of some of the digital tokens.

Tether Gains Popularity as Payment Method

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There have been lots of debates regarding the legitimacy of Tether (USDT) as a stable means of payments as well as its speculated involvement in the manipulation of the prices of digital currencies. Despite this, the digital currency has been growing with a decent number of merchants now accepting it as a preferred means of stability. This is largely because of its unmatched stability.

As it stands, Tether occupies the fourth spot in the United States’ crypto market. This means that it is already highly regarded as a stablecoin and therefore its rise to the top should not be as much of a surprise. Over the past year, merchants who are using the digital currency have recorded a significant increase in Tether volumes over the past year.

According to CoinPayments.net, one of the world’s largest digital currency payment processors, Tether currently accounts for up to 30 percent of the volume of transactions it processes. In comparison, a year ago the volume of Tether transactions was 30 times less than what has been recently reported. The consistency in Tether’s meteoric rise has been quite consistent across a number of other cryptocurrency payment processors as well.

Why Now?

Well, unlike other digital currencies, Tether burst into the scene with the promise of living up to the stablecoin objective. The digital currency avoided fluctuations and instead opted for at least a one-to-one ratio with the US dollar by managing a reserve.

This feature made it quite popular and many merchants would often accept payments in other digital currencies such as Bitcoin and convert it to Tether in order to “hedge against the volatility” of other cryptocurrencies. The over 265 companies that accept payments in Tether has since switched and are now taking Tether payments directly.

What It Means for Other Digital Currencies

While Tether’s use in commerce is definitely a positive development for the crypto community, its growth has had a rather negative impact on other digital currencies especially the ones considered to be market leaders such as Ether and Bitcoin. Owing to several factors, Bitcoin and Ether have lost their appeal among many investors and due to the rapidly shifting dynamics of the crypto industry, a lot of focus is being given to alternative crypto solutions.

Moreover, there is a need for more accessible digital currency solutions in such areas as gambling and other adult product like cannabis and sex dolls. Tether has caught up and its stability is making many other digital currencies seem like raw deals for many customers. Perhaps this is the beginning of its ascension to the top of the crypto market.

BLUEBET Emerges as World’s Top Crypto Betting Site

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According to blockchain user analysis website DappRadar, BLUEBET is the world’s leading cryptocurrency betting platform. Further analysis of the gaming website suggested that it is set to consolidate the positions for even longer thanks to its longer-term strategic focus on the so-called cross-chain crypto gambling – this will definitely be a revolutionary step forward for the recently launched gambling website.

On the DappRadar website, BLUEBET which has been in operation for just a little over seven months is described as a “multi-person online entertainment platform that is based on blockchain.” The online gaming platform supports a number of popular gaming titles including Texas, multiplayer Blackjack, Baccarat, PowerBall Lottery, Caribbean Poker, Sports, and multiplayer Three Card among many others. Its goal is to create a professional, safe and transparent gaming environment for their customers who are from all around the world. Furthermore, the company leverages the power of blockchain technology to build “a user autonomous community, and create a platform that belongs to poker enthusiasts and sports enthusiasts.”

The EOS-based project also currently ranks as the most popular blockchain projects with more than three thousand customers using it on a daily basis. However, there have been speculations that the traffic may not be quite as impressive as portrayed.

“There is a very high level of bot traffic on gambling dApps. We’re currently doing some research on this subject at DappRadar, but my personal gut feeling is +50% of traffic for some gambling dApps comes from bots,” Jon Jordan, a spokesperson for DappRadar website.

The presence of bot traffic might be a result of deliberate manipulation in order to fake user adoption numbers. Another possibility is that the bot interaction may be the result of algorithmic interactions which are completely legitimate in the context of online gambling.

Still, this might just be mere speculation as stated above especially considering the fact that BLUEBET was primarily designed and built with the Chinese gaming market in mind. Chinese gamblers have been switching to blockchain-based casinos particularly because of the anonymity they offer – this is a very important factor since gambling is still illegal in the country.

Cross-Chain Functionality

BLUEBET plans to eventually accommodate many other digital currencies including Ethereum and bitcoin. This is directly in line with the platform’s plans to build cross-chain functionality. This will allow for peer-to-peer betting by users using different cryptocurrencies. Needless to say, the functionality is almost unheard of in the crypto gambling sector and therefore it will set BLUEBET apart from all other gaming platform and give it an upper hand in the very competitive market.

 

Crypto Gaming Platform Helping Physical Casinos Move Online

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Pbet, a brand new crypto-powered gambling platform has recently launched an initiative that is set to help land-based or physical casinos to move online. The initiative not only promises to see the casino operators incur much lower costs but also intends to afford them with the assurance of more savings. In addition to that, the platform is also meant to ensure better credibility for casino players thanks to its blockchain crypto-based Unified Gaming Platform.

Pbet is already considered to be a next-gen gaming platform and its crypto token that is referred to as “PBET” is also beginning to take off. In fact, the platform has already had its Initial Exchange Offering (IOE) in a number of popular cryptocurrency exchanges including the renowned P2PB2B. Furthermore, Pbet has gone ahead to further its participation through IEO sessions in a good number of other leading exchanges like ExMarkets. Now, after the Initial Exchange Offering (IEO), the platform’s token will now be officially listed on host exchanges where its holders will be able to trade it.

Revolutionary Casino Management System

Pbet has been around for over two years now and in that time, it has been able to penetrate the gaming market thanks to “Genuina”, its casino management system. Genuina is the brainchild of some hospitality and gaming industry veteran. Now, as mentioned earlier, Pbet has plans to create a smooth convergence of physical casinos and online casinos while at the same time integrating crypto-based payments.

The platform’s blockchain technology is set to help in ensuring that there is a trust factor for players through the delivery of transparency information among other things. This mission is based on the company’s vision to combine all the three pillars of physical casinos, that is, the players, the physical casinos themselves as well as Pbet.

One of the most notable but rather overlooked features is the fact that, with the adoption of blockchain technology, Pbet will now be able to offer the players crypto payment solutions that are not only more affordable but also assure the customers of much faster withdrawal speeds.

“We will enable physical casinos to beat the high cost of penetrating into online space with our blockchain crypto-based turn-key, zero fix fees, revenue sharing system. Pbet also assures almost ‘0’ transaction fees and super-fast withdrawals for players,” stated a Pbet spokesperson.

The convergence between crypto or blockchain and the gambling industry has been a long time coming but it is certainly refreshing to see companies such as Pbet take the leap forward by actualizing it. As such, it will not be long before even more companies begin to adopt the new model

Worldpay, Paysafe Unite for US Gambling Partnership

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Global payment providers Worldpay, Inc., and Paysafe Group have recently announced a new strategic partnership that is aimed at establishing a standard for the sports betting and online gaming digital payments acceptance and security in the United States. This move is perhaps a well-timed response to the rapid growth of the online and sport betting industry following the May Supreme Court ruling that event that lifted the federal ban on sports betting thus individual states the go-ahead to liberate on their own sports betting regulations.

Paysafe Group is one of the world’s most popular providers of end-to-end payment solutions and its core business is enabling businesses and consumers to connect and perform seamless transactions. The company has well over two decades worth of experience, close to 3,000 employees and up to 12 global locations. Worldpay, Inc, on the other hand, is highly regarded for its capability to power global omni-commerce.

The duo’s partnership will leverage Worldpay’s optimized credit card processing, fast-fund payouts as well the included treasury and payment solutions. Paysafe, on the other hand, will be providing its online gambling and gaming digital payment options which include Paysafecard online cash solution and NETELLER wallet. With this partnership in place, the duo will be able to facilitate seamless transactions while reducing operating costs and allowing universal payment acceptance.

This is exactly what the American sports betting and online gaming industry need as they continue to grow – the American Gaming Association estimates that the sports betting market in the country is worth over $150 billion in gross online and offline gaming revenue. From the looks of it, it could become the largest sports betting market in the world and therefore reliable and convenient payment systems are necessary.

More Choices for the Players

Joel Leonoff, the President and CEO of Paysafe Group believes that the partnership will be able to effectively champion the needs of both the players and the operators by giving them access to a secure, high-configurable and cost-effective payments systems that will deliver an unmatched player experience. The innovative approach the duo will be going with means that the partners will be able to support all transactions. In essence, this means that there will be a ton of payment choices for players to choose from.

In a statement released shortly after the announcement of the partnership, Shane Happach, Worldpay’s executive vice president and head of global enterprise eCommerce pointed out that the combined strengths and capabilities of the two companies would simplify payment options for the gaming operators while “continuing to show our attentiveness to responsible gaming and our mission to protect the integrity of every transaction.”

Are Esports Operators Prepared to Handle Skill-Based Games?

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Last month, renowned esports gambling website Unikrn announced plans to bring legal skill-based betting to the United States which will allow players to wager on themselves. Players will be able to link their games to their Unikrn accounts and the platform will in turn generated odds for the player based on their profiles within the game. This is one of the biggest milestones since the launch of such skill-based competitive video games such as Player Unknown’s Battleground and Fortnite.

As much as the esports industry is picking up in several different areas, Ian Smith, the commissioner of the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) is concerned that the industry is yet to be prepared for it. To be more specific, Mr. Smith is skeptical about operators like Unikrn having the ability to ensure the skill ratings of the punters match the abilities of those that are manning the game controls.

The Loopholes

One of the most notable loopholes of this model is the fact that some players may place Fortnite bets using their personal account then handle the controller over to a more talented gamer. Similarly, there is the possibility that some players may nuke the game profile and then hustle the system by placing a series of bets. To make it worse, the ESIC commissioner is still not certain about the existence of any tools that identify players and make sure that player is actually the holder of the game account on platforms such as Unikrn’s.

Unikrn, on the other hand, is very confident about the ability of its team to handle issues to do with fraud. According to Unikrn’s chief executive officer, Rahul Sood, the platform has been studying each and every player’s game so as to thoroughly understand the competitive ecosystem of all the games hosted on its platform. This might be the case especially considering how great the platform’s customer experience is – this is only possible by knowing the gaming style of each player. This information can also be very useful for the company if it is to maintain the integrity of the betting platform.

Is This Effective Enough?

It is still quite obvious that it will be very difficult to detect cheating in battle royale such as Fortnite and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds than in other types of video games. This is primarily because these battle royale games usually feature multiple players all fighting to emerge as the last man standing.

Furthermore, data from these games are not very reliable because their results are not very predictable – most anti-fraud measures are based on the predictability of certain activities or actions. For instance, talented players can sometimes be easily knocked out of the games during the early stages and a less experienced player may, in some case, get lucky enough to win the game. Since battle royale games are not like the conventional esports betting formats better solutions are definitely needed.

US Legalizes Esports Betting, Approves Unikrn’s License

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Last Tuesday, Unikrn, a gaming operator known for its blockchain-infused esports betting projects, had its esports betting license approved by the Isle of Man, a move that has officially laid the groundwork for legal and regulated sports betting in the United States. Esports fans both within the United States and some other international markets will soon be able to bet on various esports events including tournaments and championship matches.

Unikrn, which is the world’s first betting platform to be built entirely on blockchain technology has had plans to merge real-money betting on competitive video gaming with crypto and blockchain technologies. The approval of its licenses by the Isle of Man is a huge step forward for the company and which has already moved fast to deploy its crypto esports gambling services in 20 different regions – the company began rolling out its online gaming products to the 20 countries as soon as the Isle of Man approved its license.

It plans to follow through by offering esports betting to European countries, South Korean and other Asian nations as well as parts of Latin America. In the US, the company will be offering several types of esports gambling services save for spectator betting which is yet to be legalized.

With the new products, the platform’s users in the countries where sports betting is legal will have the opportunity to bet on major esports competitions like the forthcoming League of Legends World Championship. Unlike traditional sportsbooks, Unikrn will be taking a unique approach that will be based on skill-based bets – this will allow the gamers to bet on their game performance for in games such as Player Unknown: Battlegrounds and Fortnite.

High Hopes Esports Betting Market

The approval of Unikrn esports betting license is certainly going to pave way for more companies to venture into the space – in fact, a number of esports betting platforms already exist but they have yet to be officially recognized by the Isle of Man. Still, the market is expected to significantly grow further from here on out. According to Rahul Sood, Unikrn’s CEO, the esports betting market could be worth $9 billion by 2020 if it’s nurtured properly.

“There is finally a legitimate, regulated operator in the space that has a pretty comprehensive offering,” Sood commented on his company’s approved esports betting license. “It’s huge.”

For the esports betting venture, Unikrn will also be featuring technology from Bittrex, a US-based asset trading platform. Bittrex’s technology will assist Unikrn in establishing a system for seamless crypto accessibility for the users of the gaming platform. The company’s in-house cryptocurrency, UnikoinGold (UKG) will be the primary token for esports spectator wagering in the 20 regions where Unikrn his set to begin operations.

NHS Asks Premier League Teams to Tackle Problem Gambling

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According to Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS (National Health Service), Premier League football clubs and the foreign bookmakers that sponsor them are failing at their duty to help protect problem gamblers. Speaking at a conference in Manchester, Mr. Stevens called out the overseas betting companies for their failure to make the required donations to an industry charity that was formed to help in tackling gambling addiction.

“There is an increasing link between problem gambling and stress, depression and other mental health problems. Doctors report that two-thirds of problem gamblers get worse without help, and the NHS does offer specialist treatment,” Simon Stevens said. “But reports that foreign gambling companies are failing to play their part in co-funding help for addicts are deeply concerning. Taxpayers and the NHS should not be left to pick up the pieces. The health of the nation is everyone’s responsibility.”

He further described compulsive gambling as one of the “new threat” that the NHS has to deal with waring that the implications could be very serious especially since the already overstretched NHS has had to “pick up the pieces” from gambling-related mental health issues.

“One of the things, if we’re serious about prevention, that we need to do – we need to be getting on to the Premier League and asking them to ensure that those foreign gambling firms are playing their part,” he added.

Worrying Numbers

According to the UK Gambling Commission, the UK has about 430,000 problem gamblers, a number that is likely to grow even further if nothing is done. In fact, the NHS has already moved to open its first mental clinic aimed specifically at problem gamblers but this is a just a drop in the ocean when compared to what really needs to be done.

“This is at the same time as the voluntary contribution from the gambling industry has not been responded to by eight overseas firms who sponsor Premier League clubs, so we need to get onto the Premier League to make sure they contribute.”

The dire need for interventions has been recognized and echoed by a number of organizations including GambleAware which has openly welcomed the NHS chief’s component.

“With nearly half the clubs in the Premier League and over two-thirds of the Championship league sponsored by gambling companies, we are seriously concerned the relationship between sport and gambling has reached a tipping point. There is a real risk gambling advertising and sponsorships are normalizing gambling for children. We welcome the call from NHS England for gambling companies, wherever they are based, to contribute more to treating problem gambling,” a spokesperson from GambleAware said. “We would like to see all clubs, leagues, and broadcasters who profit from gambling work with us to help fund treatment for this hidden addiction.”