Blockchain on ICE
Our CEO gives his impressions of blockchain adaption in betting industry following ICE.
Blockchain is not all about Bitcoin
First and foremost, let’s make a clear distinction — Bitcoin is blockchain, but blockchain is not just Bitcoin. It seems that there is very little clarity on the subject, and my assumptions are not without ground. While visiting ICE this year, I decided to also attend ICE VOX’s session dedicated to Blockchain.
Much to my surprize there was just a handful of people in the auditorium. A technology that is taking every industry by storm, is at large overlooked by the gaming industry.
To make matters worse, a panel discussion that was supposed to touch upon “applications of blockchain technologies for traditional online operators” turned into a heated discussion about the volatility of Bitcoin it’s “massive fall to 6 000 USD” (when in fact it was at 8 000 USD for a couple of days by then), slow transactions (probably referring to the issues back in December), and exorbitant transactional costs of $50 (around $5 at the time of the discussion) per transaction.
The gist is this — as it often happens, people are happy to critique what they don’t know, nor understand.
Fear and loathing
My only outtake from the regulatory discussion is this — we know it’s here, we understand it is not going anywhere, we don’t know how exactly it works, but we will only let it work if our rules are followed to the T.
Although some regulators (Isle of Man and Malta) have shown they are open to working with companies operating on blockchain there seems to be little understanding of the underlying principles of blockchain. It is evident that the rules that apply to traditional operators will be impossible to enforce on a decentralized peer to peer betting platform. A platform that lives by the rules of the smart contracts it has been written on, one that is a non profit and takes 0 commissions on the activity that takes place within its ecosystem.
When it comes to a centralised blockchain solution, like the one we for example offer as an open-source solution to existing and new operators, the core principles of blockchain will be lost if the rules and regulations set forward for traditional companies are enforced. If principles such as irreversible transaction and or immutable functions are lost to regulatory issues, the blockchain turns into a database that is in no way, shape or form better than what is currently available on the market.
It is important to understand that disruption comes through acceptance. Hopefully acceptance can be reached through cooperation and discussions of blockchain enthusiasts and regulators from the gaming industry.
Foresight not oversight
As a veteran at ICE I was very familiar with the exhibit and many of its participants. But this year I decided to make it my mission to talk with online companies about their take on the future with blockchain technologies instead just focusing on the typical topics. There were only a handful of companies that gave me a firm “we are not looking to work with crypto or blockchain”. More often than not, people would get quite excited to hear about what blockchain has to offer, some are planning ahead “we are moving online in about 5 years and believe that blockchain will be a big part of the industry by then” — said by someone in the ICE VOX auditorium, while others are already looking for partners to help them advance forward.
Give us a year
As I position myself as a betting industry expert with over 10 years experience in IT, my prediction is this — in a years time the blockchain presence at ICE will be so much greater. Gaming is said to be one of the busiest niches taken by blockchain companies in 2018, we will see a lot of projects tackling various areas of this exciting market. As it goes for myself, I will be attending ICE again in 2019 and will advocate for both blockchain and betting on it with PROOF OF TOSS.
