Laura P. | BitcoinCasinos.us

GVC and MGM Forge $200 Million Joint Venture

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Laura P.

MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings on July 30 announced that they have established a 50/50 joint venture worth a whopping $200 million. The venture will see to the creation of a world-class sports betting and online gaming platform and comes in the wake of the recent United States Supreme Court ruling that created a plethora of new opportunities by lifting the federal ban on sports betting.

Both companies have proven track records and by joining forces, they will be bringing together distinguished brands, market-leading assets, extensive industry expertise, and experience as well as prove and scalable proprietary technology that will certainly revolutionize the gambling industry in the United States. Furthermore, the joint venture is going to be a catalyst of sorts for the speed to market for both MGM and GVC – it will not only occur in a prudent and efficient manner but it will also lower execution risks while at the same time creating meaningful early mover advantages.

“We are proud to join forces with GVC, the largest and most dynamic global online betting operator, with existing reputable and trusted operations in the U.S. With MGM Resorts’ expertise and leading position in key markets across the U.S., this historic partnership will be positioned to become the instant leader in technology, market access, sports relationships, and brands. We are excited to benefit from GVC’s proprietary, best-in-class technology, digital customer acquisition expertise, and experience with adapting to new operating environments. GVC is unusually qualified due to their existing operations in the U.S. Together, we are creating a one-of-a-kind platform that we expect will dominate the U.S. sports betting market,” the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MGM Resorts International, Jim Murren commented.

GVC, which has grown rapidly through a number of lucrative acquisitions including last year’s purchase of Ladbrokes, has been trying to get its share of the U.S. market. This joint venture with MGM will grant it access to 15 states with close to 90 million people. In addition to this, the MGM and GVC joint venture will get have access to all the land-based and online sports betting facilities in the United States while integrating both MGM’s and GVC’s customer loyalty programs.

“MGM Resorts is a world-leading entertainment business and the most trusted name in gaming, with the highest quality brands and management, and strong sports connectivity. This combined with GVC’s technology and experience in successfully building online gaming businesses across multiple markets presents a truly exciting opportunity for U.S. players and our respective shareholders. To be able to team up with a partner with such pedigree and knowledge, particularly in the U.S., is a real opportunity for GVC,” Kenneth Alexander, the GVC Chief Executive Officer said.

Bitcasino.io Intensifies Focus on Mobile and Adds Ethereum

Posted on July 25, 2018July 24, 2018 by Laura P.

Leading bitcoin-led casino operator Bitcasino.io has made yet another pioneering step forward with some neat features that are tailored specifically to improve its user experience by integrating both a new mobile-first cashier and Ethereum as a payment method alongside bitcoin.

Bitcasino.io’s new mobile-first cashier function is fully optimized and therefore works seamlessly with all mobile or handheld devices. This will allow the operator’s customers to easily track deposits and withdrawals. Also, now that Ethereum has also been added to the mix as an accepted payment method, players who prefer to use the digital currency, which is, by all means, the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world, can now use it on the platform without worrying about any form of conversion. In addition to this, the players will also be able to take advantage of BTCXE, an industry-first fiat-to-bitcoin currency converter that is available on the platform.

“Mobile betting has never been more popular, so it makes sense for us to cater for players to offer the best service possible. We’re always looking to innovate and stay one step ahead of our rivals, and that’s exactly what we are doing with the launch of our mobile-first cashier and addition of the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency. We are positive players will love both additions,” said Tauri Tiitsaar, the Head of Casino at Bitcasino.io. “We are positive players will love both additions.”

Both of these new features have been introduced in a rather timely fashion as they are now going to be key defining features of the platform especially because it is at a time where mobile gaming is at an all-time high and cryptocurrencies are becoming even more popular. In essence, the move to launch the two features will give players more control over their gaming experience while at the same time keeping in line with the company’s goals of providing a fun, fast and fair casino experience.

Still the Best

Bitcasino.io was founded in 2014 as part of the Coingaming Group. Its unique approach involved a focus on bitcoin, something that has paid off quite well considering the extent to which digital currencies have grown since then. The platform features an extensive, expansive and quality casino product offering that consists of over 1,400 games. These games include a number of the most popular and fan-favorite table games, slots, and live dealer casinos from some the gaming industry’s leading casino software suppliers.

The games are hosted on Bitcasino.io’s proprietary platform that has been developed by some of the best designers and software engineers in the industry. The result is an optimized and outstanding experience that every player will certainly appreciate.

The casino operator also takes pride in being one of the most enjoyable and trustworthy casino gaming services, with withdrawal times of about 1.5 minutes which is amongst the fastest in the gaming industry as well a neat set of the latest and greatest security measures.

CoinGate Launches Bitcoin Lightning Network Trial

Posted on July 11, 2018July 10, 2018 by Laura P.

Cryptocurrency payment service provider CoinGate has just launched a trial program that will allow 100 merchants to test transactions on their service’s variant of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. According to the July 10 blog post that announced the news, some of the merchants who will be participating in CoinGate’s trial program will include online stores with crypto-based merchandise, adult entertainment websites, and sports betting websites as well as server and hosting services. In fact, according to the post, the bitcoin Lightning Network payments service has been available since July 1.

For the 100 lucky merchants who will be enjoying all the benefits of the Lightning Network through CoinGate’s service, this is not only a chance to try out the new technology risk free but it also represents move forward in the right direction as they have one less obstacle to accepting payments in bitcoin or any other digital currencies.

What The Pilot Entails

Similar to what the company’s standard service offers, CoinGate’s Lightning Network service will handle all the finer details of the crypto-to-fiat exchange. As mentioned earlier, the initiative will be risk-free and this means that the company will be covering all the costs in case any of the merchants lose funds due to the relatively young nature of the software. Still, this is a great advancement considering the fact that many of the lightning network applications are yet to reach the beta stage.

Many experts argue that the Lightning Network has not yet reached its full potential and is therefore not ready to support significant or large-scale commercial transactions. Rytis Bieliauskas, the CoinGate CTO is of a different opinion though.

“It’s a very new technology. Inevitably there will be some bugs, either in our implementation or in the Lightning Network. It will help, not just us, but the whole community because the bugs we find might help the whole protocol,” he said in an interview with CoinDesk. “…so it will take 1-2 years for consumer applications to develop and probably more for merchants to start adopting this more actively.”

Bieliauskas believes that CoinGate is headed to a great place by being one of the first payment platforms to test the waters of payments using the Lightning Network.

Support Is Mounting

Most of the merchants who applied for the trial were businesses like collectible maker Bitgild which offers gold coins and silver engraved with QR codes for real digital currencies – they, therefore, cater to customers who are already familiar with and fascinated by the Lightning Network’s potential.

Also in the mix are a number of adult entertainment providers including the Romania-based LiveJasmin which boasts of up to 40 million daily visitors and is arguably the biggest mainstream merchant to experiment with the Lightning Network.

“Instant payments are the most important from our point of view,” Tamás Szerencse, head of payments at LiveJasmin, said about the platforms decision to join CoinGate’s trial.

Atlantic City to Regain Lost Glory As Two Casinos Reopen

Posted on June 27, 2018June 26, 2018 by Laura P.

Once considered to be the mecca of casino gambling, Atlantic City has had a pretty rough time in the past few years. This was characterized by a number of decaying properties, vacant high-rises as well as boarded seashore ships, all of which were a sore reminder of the dwindling trend that the city was taking in regards to its formerly thriving casino industry.

However, things seem to be taking a turn for the better as the city is preparing for a major comeback that will certainly reverse the state’s woes that included plummeting gambling revenue and diminishing workforce. To kick off its rejuvenated efforts the city has rebranded itself as the “entertainment” capital of the east and this week, and it will see the reopening of two casinos that are anticipated to jump-start the local casino industry and the local economy as a whole.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Ocean Resort Casino, the casinos will officially go live on Thursday. Hard Rock’s opening is reportedly going to feature performances from a number of music stars including Pitbull and Carrie Underwood, who will perform on Saturday and Friday respectively. In addition to this, Hard Rock will feature stand-up comedy with Howie Mandel’s Comedy Club. The casino also announced its 365 Live promotion where performers will take stages each day of its opening year. This Thursday, Jerry Blavat will be performing at the casino’a Boardwalk stage.

Ocean Resort Casino’s opening weekend will begin with a grand performance by Grammy award-winning DJ Diplo. He will be followed by Kaskade and Jermaine Dupri who will perform on June 30 and then by Ryan Marciano and Sunnery James performing on July 1.

“This is certainly a comeback for this city,” said Rummy Pandit, the executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University. “The two properties are opening with a significant amount of rooms and food and beverage and other amenities such as spa and entertainment so yes, we are going to see brand new segments of the market [revenue] that will be coming into the shore.”

Monday and Tuesday (June 25 and 26) served as “soft play” days at both casinos with a number of invited guests being treated to what the two entertainment joints will be offering once they go live. In attendance were the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement officials who were on the site to ensure that the integrity of the casino games and the proper financial practices were being adhered to.

Atlantic City is also hoping to capitalize on the recent Supreme Court ruling that legalized nationwide sport betting and gave New Jersey the go-ahead to open sportsbooks. Both Hard Rock and Ocean Resorts have vast entertainment options for guests in this regard but younger patrons are also not left out since there are a number of non-gambling attractions just for them.

The AMLC Sets Its Sight on Casinos and Digital Currencies

Posted on June 20, 2018June 19, 2018 by Laura P.

Philippine’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has recently made a decision to bring digital currencies and casinos into their spotlight this year as it tightens its vigilant watch on dirty money. As clarified by Mel Georgie B. Racela, the AMLC Secretariat Executive Director, the council has now included the conversion of cash into poker chips and digital or virtual currencies in its coverage. This move is primarily aimed at plugging certain gaps that have been plaguing the anti-money laundering laws.

To begin with, the casino operators were given a six-month period – starting from this month – in which they are supposed to register with the AMLC. The compliance of the casino operators is expected to reduce the opportunities that criminals have to launder illegally obtained funds at the casino’s gaming tables. Prior to these new regulations, the Republic Act No. 10927 which was enacted last year required all the gambling operators to report their daily transactions worth at least P5 million to the AMLC.

However, it was until last week that the council published the Republic Act No. 10927’s implementation rules – casino operators now have until mid-December to sign up on AMLC’s online portal and begin submitting the required transaction reports.

The agencies National Risk Assessment 2015-2016 cited a considerably high risk of money laundering among casinos as well as many other financial service business. This was further elevated by the fact that it happened to coincide with the Bangladesh Heist in which $81 million in stolen funds vanished without a trace at casino gaming tables.

High Hopes

According to Mr. Racela, the threat level is going to reduce significantly as the agency’s new regulations take effect. Added to the fact that the casinos are now subject to a know-your-customer policy which will require them to report any suspicious transactions to the AMLC, it is quite obvious that everything is certainly bound to get better.

“If we make a reassessment of our national risk insofar as casinos are concerned, we believe that we will be able to reduce this from high risk to moderate,” Mr. Racela said on Monday, June 18 during the inaugural symposium of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists Manila chapter.

The AMLC is looking to have the money laundering risks attached to casinos minimized in the next round of evaluations that is due in a couple of years (probably 2020) – the agency is confident that the new rules will eventually pay off.

As for digital currencies, while it is evaluating the best possible way of effectively going about it, the agency has confirmed that it has given its members the go-ahead to “study the suspicious transaction reports submitted by virtual currency exchanges.” Mr. Racela, however, noted that it is still too early to say whether or not the digital currency space will turn into an arena for money launders.

Slovenian Shopping Mall Transitioning into ‘Bitcoin City’

Posted on June 6, 2018June 5, 2018 by Laura P.

By now it is quite clear that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are here to stay. Already, they have both contributed to a number of great developments in the world of finance, a trend that is catching on with more and more businesses embracing the rapidly evolving technology.

Slovenia’s largest shopping mall has caught the attention of the world owing to its unique strategies that are now being implemented and will see it become the world’s first genuine “Bitcoin City.” Aptly named BTC City, the shopping complex stretches 475,000 square meters and boasts of 500 retail stores.

BTC Company was founded in 1954 as a warehouse and logistics enterprise before it gradually added many more warehouses. The complex was repurposed as a commercial shopping destination in 1990 and renamed BTC City. Since then, more commercial ventures including a sports complex, a hotel, a casino, a multiplex cinema and even a water park have been added to the mall. In addition to this, it also happens to host Slovenia’s tallest building.

Introducing Eligma

Powering the new crypto-focused initiative is Elipay, an AI-driven and blockchain-based cognitive commerce platform that is used by the shopping complex’s retailers. Elipay is a crypto-based point-of-sale system that was created by a Fintech startup known as Eligma.

BTC City has proven to be the best testing ground for the startup, particularly because the complex provides a controlled environment in which they can slowly introduce Elipay into each and every business operating in the shopping center.

“The shopping center presents a micro snapshot of global commerce because it encompasses a large number of very different establishments that present an array of challenges for Eligma on a scale, manageable in our first development phase,” commented the Eligma team.

More and more retailers in BTC City are embracing the platform and are implementing Elipay into their stores. With Elipay, the customers who visit the shopping destination now have the option of paying for their purchases with Bitcoin as well as Eligma’s own token.

The Eligma team, of course, has very big plans for their platform – it would be very exciting to see that the transformation of BTC City into a unified online platform is replicated in many other parts of the world so that they too can enjoy the simplified payment systems and business processes that were only previously possible in central warehouses. This will greatly reduce the retailer’s ownership costs by ensuring that they only have the essential items in stock.

Recently, Miro Cerar, the Prime Minister of Slovenia made a visit to BTC City during which he was treated to a cup of “crypto coffee” that was bought by Slovenian State Secretary Tadej Slapnik using the Elipay transaction system.

“The purpose of his visit was to open the Beyond 4.0 international conference, dedicated to digital society and blockchain, as well as to get acquainted with BTC City’s strategy to become Bitcoin City,” explained Eligma.

Way to go!

Regulators in the US and Canada Crack Down on Crypto Schemes

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Laura P.

As the battle between the cryptocurrency regulation and the ultimate quest for liberation rages on, forty regulators in the United States and Canada have teamed up in an effort to regulated cryptocurrency investment schemes. The collaboration between two countries’ regulators has resulted in the largest crackdown in cryptocurrency scams of this scale in history. So far, there are 70 ongoing investigations with 35 more that have either been completed or are still pending.

CNBC reports that the collaborative effort, that is, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), has officials from 40 or more different state regulators working together to provide the much-needed coordinated responses to any cryptocurrency-based investment schemes such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s).

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), as it turns out, is the oldest international organization whose primary goal is investor protection. It also boasts of a vast number of members that include securities administrators from states, provinces, as well as the territories in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico. The organization’s efforts have turned out to be very helpful in ensuring that the crypto industry flourishes safely – its approach involves policing investment opportunities in the United States and Canada such as in ICOs to ensure that they are legitimate and are being carried safely and within the legal boundaries.

“The crackdown comes amid growing attention in the U.S. to cryptocurrency scams, including by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The SEC has brought several fraud cases against operators of initial coin offerings and last week launched a website to help investors recognize scams. William Francis Galvin, the state’s secretary of the commonwealth, said NASAA’s task force found roughly 30,000 crypto-related domain name registrations, many of which appeared in late 2017 as the price of bitcoin neared $20,000,” an excerpt from the CNBC report reads.

Praise from High Places

The NASAA crackdown operation that has since been dubbed “Operation Crypto Sweep” has been lauded by a number of industry bigwigs including Jay Clayton, the chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. In a statement that was released on Monday, May 22, Clayton said that the state and provincial regulators play a vital role in the protection of Main Street investors.

“The enforcement actions being announced by NASAA should be a strong warning to would-be fraudsters in this space that many sets of eyes are watching, and that regulators are coordinating on an international level to take strong actions to deter and stop fraud,” Clayton added.

In addition to this, Clayton pointed out the fact that NASAA’s efforts would drive out bad actors and scammers early on thus ensuring that governments adopt stances that are not going to choke off the crypto industry.

Goldman Sachs, Wall Street Warming Up to Crypto Trading

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Laura P.

Some of Wall Street’s biggest names are finally waring up to bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole. Since the first decentralized digital currency came into being, they have all been consigned to the unregulated fringes of the financial world, but all this is about to change with the new bitcoin trading bid that a number of institutions are beginning to warm up to.

Spearheading this new development is Goldman Sachs which is slated to be the first Wall Street bank to launch and offer cryptocurrency-related trading services. The renowned financial institution is working on rolling out a number of derivative products that will allow its customers to buy contracts related to price fluctuations in bitcoin. In addition to this, Goldman Sachs also plans to create a more flexible type of futures product that will be referred to as a non-deliverable forward.

The non-deliverable product will be a trading approach that will involve no physical exchange of the underlying asset. Instead, it will involve the exchange of currency that is quoted on the settlement of the date of the forward.

Shortly after Goldman Sachs went public with its plans to set up a cryptocurrency trading desk, news that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, has been working on an online bitcoin trading platform surfaced. This, for bitcoin, represents a dramatic yet welcome shift towards mainstream acceptance and usage especially considering the fact that the digital currency has often been associated with underworld activities and high-risk, speculative investment.

Ex-Goldman Sachs President Not Yet Sold on Bitcoin

While he believes that the world is on its ways towards a global currency, former Goldman Sachs president, Gary Cohn, believes that the currency will not be bitcoin. In an interview with CNBC, Cohn said that he believes that the world will have a “global cryptocurrency at some point where the world understands it and it’s not based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that. This implies that the supposed global currency will have to be “more easily understood” than bitcoin.

“I’m not a big believer in bitcoin. I am a believer in blockchain technology. I do think we will have a global cryptocurrency at some point where the world understands it and it’s not based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that,” Cohn said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview. “It will probably have some blockchain technology behind it, but it will be much more easily understood how it’s created, how it moves and how people can use it.”

20% of Financial Institutions Considering Crypto Trading

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Laura P.

Within the next few months, the cryptocurrency trading market will receive an immense amount of influx as more financial institutions, banks and hedge funds consider the inclusion of digital currencies in their services. Even though they prefer not to make the plans public, many of these institutions have been preparing to be part of the crypto world.

To put this into perspective, Thomson Reuters Corporation, a Toronto-based multinational information firm recently published a survey which revealed that 20 percent of financial institutions have been juggling around the idea of being part of the cryptocurrency trading space within the next 12 months or so. However, this might happen sooner than we think since according to the survey, 70 percent of the institutions considering the move plan to begin the operations in the next three to six weeks.

“Historically, the banking sector has been notoriously dismissive of the crypto movement. Cryptocurrency has variously been called a bubble, an asset for criminals, and worthless. But today’s survey demonstrates that while financial institutions are saying one thing, they’re doing quite another,” explained Kevin Murcko, Coinmetro CEO. “We’re witnessing a gradual institutionalization of the market, and this is sure to drive mainstream adoption. The move to accommodate digital currencies is also a symbolic one; it’s a sign of growing maturity in the market, and represents just how far cryptocurrency has come since its days of relative obscurity.”

One of the institutions that is allegedly at the helm of this revolution is Goldman Sachs – “allegedly” because the company’s CEO has denied claims that the company is on the verge of launching a bitcoin trading desk. However, the company recently hired a former quantitative trader known as Just Schmidt to head its security division’s first digital asset market.

“In response to client interest in various digital products, we are exploring how best to serve them in the space,” Goldman Sachs spokeswoman Tiffany Galvin-Cohen said in an official statement. “At this point, we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”

This makes the CEO’s denial rather questionable, but one thing is clear though – the bank should certainly have an extensive awareness of the fact that there is a huge demand by hedge funds and big investors for cryptocurrency trading services. Whatever it does with that information is totally up to the bank’s management.

Twitter Briefly Suspends @Bitcoin Sparking Wild Theories

Posted on April 11, 2018April 11, 2018 by Laura P.

On Sunday, Twitter briefly suspended @Bitcoin which is one of the oldest and most popular crypto-affiliated Twitter accounts. This move by Twitter has raised a raft of questions as well as suspicion among cryptocurrency users who are on either side of the Bitcoin Cash-Bitcoin Core divide. The Twitter account was handed over briefly to a user who claimed to be Turkish and then to another user who claimed to Russian before finally being returned to its owner on Monday afternoon.

At the time of its restoration, the account was short of 750,000 followers but Twitter has been working towards reinstating all of the account’s followers. Meanwhile, a number of accusations begun flying around which only served to fuel the already blazing controversy that involves bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and the Lightning Network.

While Twitter did not give any public explanation for the suspension, some theorists have suggested that the move was in response to complaints mounted on the social media platform by Bitcoin Core (bitcoin) supporters who weren’t happy about the account’s support for Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash is an altcoin that split off from bitcoin in August last year after the members of the community disagreed over how they were going to address network scaling issues. Since then, the relationship between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Cash has always been acrimonious, to say the least.

The @Bitcoin Twitter account has been in the spotlight before with users calling for its suspensions. In January, for instance, a Twitter user called it a “Fake @Bitcoin account” and asked users to report it.

“I complained to Google because when I would Google bitcoin I would get a prominently displayed Twitter feed of @Bitcoin with three separate posts, and always the first one was that Bitcoin Cash was the real bitcoin,” read a Reddit comment. “I found it a fraudulent statement intended to confuse and induce newbies to buy their cheap knock-off product.”

As always, there was a lot of disagreement pertaining to the suspension of the account but the threads were eventually shut down as moderators claimed that the users were “brigading and vote cheating.”

One of the more bold theories pointed to Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, who is allegedly biased due to his support for Bitcoin Core and his $2.5 million investment in a startup called Lightning Labs that builds technology for Bitcoin Core.

BitcoinCasinos.us

Author: Laura P.