Bitcoin Has Deep Ties to Gambling
Most people associate online gambling from back in the day with names like Lasseters, Centrebet, Bodog, Pokerstars and Full Tilt to name a few. The name that has a common link to a few of these is Dr. Craig Wright. He was involved with the i-Gaming industry prior to his writing the Bitcoin white paper. Very few people today know that Craig worked with BDO in the audit world where he began working on fraud detection programs. They were intended to be implemented within Centrebet’s operation. A few of the ideas that he developed for that purpose actually ended up as part of the white paper.
“Part of what I was doing with BDO overlaps with the concept of Bitcoin,” tells Craig.
Money plays a huge role in the online gambling industry. Sending, receiving, tracking, auditing, and regulatory requirements all have a specific purpose here as well as specific sets of guidelines.
“Money handling regulations actually mention funding. So, when you’re talking about AML Know Your Customer regulations, it’s to do with funding. So, if you’re paying someone in bags of coffee, you’re still funding them,” explains Craig.
A key area of focus that came to light was having the ability to make micropayments. This is something the gaming industry has not been able to do. Mostly due to high fees and slow payment platforms that were too difficult to operate effectively. Bitcoin, only in the original version created by Dr. Wright, having the ability for fractional payments and to move at high speeds with minimal cost-per-transaction makes it a perfect fit for this industry.
“So, all of this can be constructed in a way that is utterly secure and without a lot of cost, without having to set up expensive infrastructure, high-end firewalls, or any other aspect of this. Just one secure website will do it,” said Craig.
It seems that the majority of the online casino community then and now are screaming for anonymity as it relates to security. Players don’t want their identity known for whatever reason. Bitcoin solves this issue by having a fully recorded data system that is auditable but keeps private information private. This process satisfies the operator requirements and player requirements. This information can be stored both on and off chain.
When we look at all the benefits of the original Bitcoin, there’s no mistaking that it is a perfect fit for online gaming.
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