Let your mouth speak archive

The government of Curaçao plans to tighten control over its online gambling sector, but it’s unclear what form these new controls may take.

On Tuesday, Stef Blok, the Netherlands’ Acting Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, replied to questions submitted by other MPs regarding Curaçao-licensed operators serving Dutch gamblers.

The Daily Herald quoted Blok saying that he and State Secretary of Security and Justice Klass Dijkhoff were serious about preventing Curaçao licensees from offering unauthorized gambling within Dutch borders.

Earlier this month, Dutch parliamentarians put forth a motion to impose greater control over online gambling activity in Curaçao, a constituent country of the Netherlands. Blok said Dijkhoff would respond to this motion at a later date.

Blok noted that the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) gambling authority had in the past taken action against Curaçao-licensed operators who were engaging in “illegal gambling with a limited size on the Dutch market.” The KSA had engaged in a number of “interventions, after which the transgressions were ended.”

Blok said oversight of Curaçao’s online gambling operators remained the responsibility of the Curaçao government and its prosecutor’s office. However, Blok claimed that the Curaçao government was preparing a “national ordinance” to regulate online gambling activity and that the Curaçao prosecutor had shown a willingness to act when the actions of its gambling industry affected the integrity of the local government.

Curaçao is home to dozens of online gambling operators, most notably Pinnacle (formerly Pinnacle Sports) but its anyone’s guess how much business Curaçao licensees do with Dutch punters. It remains to be seen how restrictive Curaçao’s new rules will prove, particularly given the Dutch government’s view that it lacks the authority to crack the whip should Curaçao prove unwilling or incapable of enforcing its edicts.

At any rate, the uncertainty is yet another example of why Antigua still represents the best and most stable licensing option for operators conducting non-US-facing operations.






Curaçao Online Gambling Licensees Expecting New Sheriff | Online Gambling News : CalvinAyre-com

Growth in online gambling is a new phenomenon in the Czech Republic, national anti-drug coordinator Jindrich Voboril said on Thursday, presenting the annual gambling report for 2015.

The number of the teenagers who have tried online gambling is on the rise, Voboril said.

Without a support for prevention and treatment, the regulation of gambling is insufficient, he added.

The proportion of pathological gamblers who are medically treated is considerably smaller than that of illegal drug users, Voboril said.

While the number of gambling rooms is falling, the number of various games on the Internet is rising. This covers not only bets, but also applications similar to slot machines, he added.

"The number of the underage is rising most rapidly. Thirty percent of teenagers under 17 have tried gambling. The average age of gamblers has fallen," Voboril said.

According to the latest estimates, there are 50,000-100,000 pathological gamblers in the Czech Republic. The figure is similar to that of illegal drug users, Voboril said.

"We have all but failed to have the people treated. Compared with drug addicts, only one-tenth, about 3,000 people are treated," he added.

"Unlike the previous period, when it was 1500, this is an increase, but the figure is still small," Voboril said.

In the Czech Republic, there are ten to 20 facilities with a focus on help to problem gamblers.

The support for prevention and treatment is as important as legal regulation, Voboril said.

"Without a prevention and treatment targeted on the core of the problem, which means pathological gamblers, all the sphere will be still lagging behind," he added.

The government has set aside 25 million crowns on an increase in the number of the relevant facilities.





Czechs increasingly indulge in online gambling | Prague Monitor

Online gambling growth is always great!!

online gambling growth is always great!!

Depends who you're speaking with, a lonely guy with debts over his ears not being able to pay his next rent, isn't so happy about gambling growth.

Singapore’s central bank said a “supervisory examination” of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. unit’s involvement in bond deals by 1Malaysia Development Bhd. is ongoing.

"Monetary Authority of Singapore will take decisive regulatory actions against any financial institution or individual in Singapore that has breached regulations or failed to meet the expected anti-money laundering standards,” it said in the statement on Saturday.

Edward Naylor, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for Goldman Sachs, declined to comment.

The New York-based bank received subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for documents related to the Malaysian investment fund known as 1MDB, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t identified. Reuters earlier reported Singapore’s probe into Goldman Sachs’ involvement in 1MDB bonds.

QuickTake Q&A: Malaysia’s 1MDB Fund Spawns Worldwide Probes

The Singapore central bank on July 21 unveiled plans to act against four banks for what it called serious lapses in their anti-money laundering controls and seized S$240 million ($177 million) in assets linked to 1MDB.





Read more: Goldman Bond Deals With 1MDB Under Singapore Central Bank Review - Bloomberg






Its preliminary findings uncovered “instances of control failings” in UBS Group AG’s Singapore branch, Standard Chartered Plc’s local unit and DBS Group Holdings Ltd., as well as “substantial breaches” of anti-money laundering regulations at Falcon Private Bank Ltd. in the city-state, the Monetary Authority said last week. The regulator vowed to take action against the four banks for the lapses.

Visiting in Vegas and gambling online can really go hand in hand. Some people really might want to do both anyway. Lots of people love gambling so much and are so enthusiastic about it that they will do online gaming when they are already in Las Vegas, perhaps with some good humor about the situation (Pictured: Playing Blackjack at the El Cortez Hotel & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas).

Visiting in Vegas and gambling online is certainly easy, since this is not going to be the sort of city that will block most websites, at least for the most part. There are online casino websites that truly do not accept American players, even if they are connecting to the online casino from a city like Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a viable part of the gaming community after all of these years and so many different technological developments.

The Vegas Palms online casino captures the feeling of actually being in Las Vegas much better than many of the other online casinos that people can visit today. People can play up to six hundred different online casino games at the Vegas Palms online casino. This is one of the most prolific of all of the online casinos, and it is also one of the oldest. The Vegas Palms online casino has now been around for more than fifteen years, which is arguably longer than the Web 2.0 era has even been around, making it that much more impressive that people were able to sustain any business of any kind in such a competitive and shifting market. People can get one hundred euros or dollars free at the Vegas Palms Online Casino, and they will be able to use that money to bet on some of the games that have larger jackpots attached.

Visiting in Vegas and gambling online are really vastly different experiences. The people who are worried about one trend ending the other usually should not be so concerned. Some people are always going to prefer the old school feel of Las Vegas and the fact that they can experience the culture there in a way that is impossible online. However, other people prefer the convenience of going to websites like the Vegas Palms Online Casino, and these people are probably never going to change their minds. There is a third group in the center that is just as enthusiastic about all of the different possible venues for gaming, and they are going to enjoy both visiting in Vegas and gambling online.

Visiting in Vegas and gambling online keep on changing. There are new online casinos all the time, and there are new games all the time. While this might seem like a part of Internet culture, Las Vegas constantly changes as well. There are new casinos, new games, new famous acts, new performers, and lots of other changes in a culture like this one all the time. Visiting in Vegas and gambling online are very different in a lot of important ways. However, there are still some ways in which the experiences overlap.




Visiting in Vegas and Gambling Online

Online gambling games is much more than it was few years ago, and that’s saying something. The year 2013 was actually a great year for online gaming in general, representing a point at which online gaming started to spike in a way that had not occurred previously. Many people wonder why this is, especially given that previous years of online gaming were still very successful. Some people suspect that this was largely due to the rise of mobile gaming.

Online gambling games is much more than it was few years ago, because online casinos have been able to benefit from the fact that mobile devices are now ubiquitous and mobile casino gaming options have become just as ubiquitous in the online casino gaming world at this point. The mobile smartphone age began in the late 2000′s, and it started to become completely standard throughout the 2010′s. Society has now reach the middle of the 2010′s, which is starting to blend into the late 2010′s. The 2010′s have been entirely defined by the smartphone era, and it makes sense that this is an era in which online gaming would truly manage to take control.

Still, that does not mean that online gaming peaked at this point. It seems that online gaming is only getting more and more popular. Some people might attribute this to the ongoing problems with the recession and the fact that people still like to play online casino games during such times as a way of bolstering their spirits. However, it should be noted that this only explains part of the rise of online casino gaming. Online gambling games is much more than it was few years ago, and while the economy has certainly not completely recovered, the economy is still in better shape than it was around five or six years ago. As such, it makes perfect sense that other factors explain the fact that 2016 has been such a great year for online gaming.

When people enjoy Casino Games City, they truly are following a massive trend at this point. This is partly due to the fact that online gaming simply has enough of a cultural reach by this point in time to be able to offer people what they need. Of course, the effects of sports sponsorship have certainly helped. People are now able to find out more about casino games and online casinos in general. Some people actually became introduced to them in the first place as a result of seeing them advertised on sports uniforms or at their favorite sports games. Online gambling games is much more than it was few years ago, and people can at least partly attribute this to the marketing efforts behind online gaming. Cultural and technological changes can certainly help with something like this, but at the end of the day, people need to know about something and it is up to the marketers to raise awareness in a way that really works. Online gaming should only continue to rise. Marketers are going to continue to raise awareness about something like this.
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Online gambling games is much more than it was few years ago

Everything is changing live in the future not in the past!!

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has added digital currencies like Bitcoin to its list of acceptable payment methods available to UKGC licensees.

The UKGC recently released its updated License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) following a series of consultations with licensees and industry stakeholders. The new LCCP requirements are set to take effect on Oct. 31, 2016.

Section 5.1 of the LCCP addresses “cash and cash equivalents, payment methods and services.” Licensees are told that they must “implement appropriate policies and procedures concerning the usage of cash and cash equivalents (eg bankers drafts, cheques and debit cards and digital currencies) by customers.” (Emphasis added.)

The intention is to reduce the risk of money laundering activity and to “provide assurance that gambling activities are being conducted in a manner which promotes the licensing objectives.” Licensees were advised that they must “take into account any applicable learning or guidelines” that the UKGC may issue from time to time.

Last month, the UKGC’s annual report quoted CEO Sarah Harrison saying that digital currencies were among the regulator’s areas of “continuing future focus” but Harrison offered no specifics on what that might entail.

The acceptance of Bitcoin by a high-profile body like the UKGC could help spur increased public acceptance of alternative currencies. To date, only the jurisdiction of Curaçao has allowed online gambling licensees free rein to accept Bitcoin as payment.

However, in May the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission proposed allowing its online licensees to accept deposits made in “convertible virtual currencies.” And the Malta Gaming Authority reportedly held a meeting on this very subject on Tuesday, so momentum appears to be growing.

Bitcoin gambling operators wishing to serve the UK market will still require a UK license – the UKGC wrote to Bitcoin gambling operators a year ago emphasizing this point – although it hinted at its upcoming policy adjustments by saying that the form of currency “is almost irrelevant” provided licensed operators could demonstrate that “crime is kept out of gambling and consumers are protected.”




UK Gambling Commission Gives Green Light to Bitcoin | Online Gambling News : CalvinAyre-com

William Hill's grip on the top of UK iGaming has slipped, but a series of deft responses has the company looking good all the same.

Surface Tension

The surprising rejection of a recent merger offer from the 888 and Rank had pundits scratching their heads a bit, made all the more confusing by the quick sack of top boss James Henderson.

Dealing With It

The seemingly cataclysmic response of ousting their top executive after 30 years of faithful service was a proactive response to the company's underperformance with Henderson at the helm--in a time in which William Hill was looking to get ahead after feeling the heat from online supermergers that had caught the land-based UK gaming leader in online bookmaker revenue rankings.

Counterpunching

The fact is, while William Hill is looking for its new comfort zone with the explosion of online betting, it continues to make moves to strengthen its position in land/based activity nonetheless.

Everton Sponsorship

To wit, August has started off on a positive note with William Hill's signing of a two-year agreement with EPL's Everton to become the Club’s Official European Betting Partner. The innovative deal calls for William Hill to offer a variety of exclusive competitions and betting enhancements to customers, with Everton fans being the direct beneficiaries. For two years, the William Hill name will be featured prominently on Everton LED screens and of course in the home stadium.

Grand Parade Acquisition

Now, the company has announced the acquisition of ten years old Grand Parade, a London England based app, website and commerce platforms architect for some of the world’s largest gambling operator brands. The deal is worth £13.5 million (€16 million/$17.9 million).

Integration Well Underway

New interim Phillip Hill CEO Philip Bowcock commented that “bringing the Grand Parade team into William Hill will rapidly ramp up the scale of our development team...to support the work with OpenBet to build our new back-end platform.”

Clearly, William Hill are rapidly building up their online presence and capacities alongside new high profile land-based sponsorship agreements.

Tottenham Sponsorship

And what is more prominent in the UK than the Premier League? For William Hill's latest trick (and third of the young month), they have bagged the EPL's Tottenham Hotspurs in a second sponsorship agreement giving William Hill a presence across Hotspur digital channels, pitchside advertising boards and in-stadium betting services on each matchday.

Still Standing

William Hill may have lost the top spot, but they are not willing to relinquish their status.





Despite Recent Tumble, William Hill Unbowed With New Acquisition and EPL Sponsorships | Online Casino Reports

The benefits of Bitcoin for the gambling industry have been discussed many times in the past. But some authoritative figures still see Bitcoin as a risk, particularly in the gaming and gambling world. While Malta is quickly becoming a hotbed for iGaming, the adoption of Bitcoin by local companies will take longer than people may want it to.

It is rather interesting to learn the online gambling regulator of Malta is rather hesitant towards approaching Bitcoin these days. The wait-and-see approach employed by traditional financial institutions is rather uncommon in the online gaming and gambling industry. After all, all of these companies want to attract as many customers around the world as possible.

But Joseph Cuschieri, who is the chairperson of the Malta Gaming Authority, is one of the few exceptions in this regard While he noticed the growing popularity of cryptocurrency in the gaming world, he strongly feels this is due to “financial institutions becoming more risk averse”. That statement could have some merit, though, as it becoming more difficult for iGaming providers to find a bank partner these days.

Interestingly enough, the Malta Gaming Authority has not received too many requests from its licensees to handle Bitcoin transactions. That is not entirely surprising either, considering how the MGA has always refused these requests in the past. Cuschieri still feels Bitcoin is a risk, and it is unlikely the MGA’s policy on cryptocurrency will change anytime soon.

However, this does not mean the MGA is not working on a way to solve this problem. According to Malta Today, there is a plan on the table to create a nationalized approach to cryptocurrency. However, this process will involve collaboration with the Central Bank of Malta, as well as the country’s Financial Services Authority and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.

It remains to be seen how this situation with the MGA will evolve, as they are one of the few gaming authorities openly refusing to deal with Bitcoin. Most other countries around the world have adapted their legislation to allow for cryptocurrency usage. Both gambling operators and bettors can benefit from Bitcoin in the gaming world, so there is no real reason to swim against the stream.

The UK Gambling Commission has suspended the operating licenses of Smart TV Broadcasting Ltd pending a review of the company’s suitability to continue offering online gambling services.

On Friday, the UKGC announced it had commenced a review of Smart TV under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005 based on the regulator’s belief that the operator is “unsuitable to carry on the licensed activities (section 120(1)(d) of the Act).”

While the review is underway, the UKGC said it was suspending Smart TV’s combined remote operating license and general betting standard operating license. The UKGC said the suspension was an interim measure, “the need for which will be kept under consideration whilst the review takes place.”

The UKGC ordered Smart TV to settle any outstanding winning bets and return any outstanding balances to customers. The UKGC acknowledged that “there are currently customers who have outstanding balances in their accounts with the operator. Regrettably, at this point we have no further information on the position of customer funds.”

Founded in 2007, the London-based Smart TV offers online gambling via interactive TV and via seven UK-licensed websites: guruplay-com, smartlivebaccarat-com, smartlivebingo-com, smartliveblackjack-com, smartlivecasino-com, smartlivepoker-com and smartlivesports-com.

The sites are all currently redirecting to Smartlivegaming-com, which displays both a UKGC icon and that of the Malta Gaming Authority. The site says its live dealer casino is operated by Smart Gaming Group Malta Ltd. SmartLiveGaming’s official Twitter feed has not been updated in a month.

The last time the UKGC announced a suspension under Section 120(1)(d), the target was Metro Play Limited, the operators of 666Bet and Metroplay-com. Company officials were accused of involvement in a money laundering and tax fraud scheme and Metro Play was ordered into compulsory liquidation several months later.









UK Regulator Suspends Smart Live Gaming License | Online Gambling News : CalvinAyre-com

The battle has been going on for more than a decade. Antigua and Barbuda felt that the United States owed money to the island nation for an online gaming case. The World Trade Organization even took on the case and ruled that the US violated Antigua and Barbuda’s rights in 2005. But the US government has since refused to acknowledge the ruling or pay the money owed.

Antigua and Barbuda has had enough. !!

Twenty five Chinese nationals are set to be deported from Cambodia after their arrest on Friday for operating an illegal online gambling ring, police said yesterday.


The 25 were arrested at a house in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, in a raid involving police officers from the Interior Ministry and the municipality, explained General Uk Heisela, chief investigator at the ministry’s Immigration Department.


While 22 members of the group possessed valid visas, none had work permits, he said, explaining that following questioning on Saturday, all 25 will be deported “soon.”


In Siem Reap city on Saturday night, 27-year-old Chinese national Sheng Qing Zhu was arrested after a waitress was hospitalized after being hit with a glass bottle.


According to the National Police website, Mr. Sheng, an employee at the Casa Hotel, had been arguing with a Caucasian male at Temple Bar in the city center.


When Mr. Sheng tried to throw a beer bottle at the man, he missed, hitting the waitress, 19-year-old Chin Sambo, in the head and causing her to vomit and pass out before being taken to hospital.


Mr. Sheng’s file was sent to the Siem Reap provincial court yesterday. :acne

In terms of alternative currencies that are not controlled by governments, the crypto-currency Bitcoin is by far the most successful and well known to date. There are many reasons for this, the biggest being that no one controls the digital currency and it can easily change hands in anonymous transactions or held safely electronically. Despite a variety of setbacks, there is still a huge amount of optimism around the crypto-currency’s use and one area where Bitcoin use is booming is in online gambling and games.

The continual growth in the use of Bitcoin within online games and gambling mirrors that of smartphones and other mobile devices which is one reason why the currency has taken hold there. However there are other factors that have contributed to this trend as we shall see below:
A User Friendly Currency

As more and more businesses moved their services online, digital payment solutions such as PayPal were created to handle the customers’ transactions on the platform. Bitcoin has risen from this normalisation of electronic money and its qualities have captured the imagination of today’s digitally savvy generation. Bitcoin is seen as user friendly due to its ease of use during transactions which are quick and simple, a big contrast to even the electronic versions of traditional payments systems.
Maintaining Privacy

In terms of protecting and maintaining its holder’s privacy when compared to traditional or other virtual currencies, Bitcoin’s security advantage is unprecedented. This advantage is one of the many that are the reason why mainstream online casino sites such as Red Flush Casino are looking to start expanding into the Bitcoin market. The crypto-currency is built on peer-to peer technology that means the virtual money is not controlled by any central authorities and its users can conduct their transactions in privacy.

With end to end encryption Bitcoin ensures that details of all transactions such as the sender or receiver of payment, as well as what was purchased, remain private. This an appealing feature of the currency’s popularity for users of gambling platforms when paired with its seamless integration.
Unrivalled Security

Bitcoins’ privacy advantage is built upon a robust and secure system that involves the safe storage of the crypto-currency in a digital wallet. In addition to managing their wallet on their own through private computers or dedicated websites, bitcoin users can also use platforms that service the virtual currency.

With encrypted details of transactions and an unrivalled level of security that is the basis for maintaining the privacy of its users, there is little doubt as to why Bitcoins use in online gambling and gaming continues to rise. The currency remains a popular choice and is sure to see even more widespread adoption by other forms of mobile gaming and online casinos.







Why Bitcoin Use Continues to Grow in Online Gambling | ForexMinuteForexMinute

A provision allowing the Lottery to add online gaming to its array of offerings was included in the Senate version of an economic development bill the Massachusetts Legislature had been working on much of the summer. It was not, however, included in the House version of the bill, and was not in the final document expected to be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker sometime this week.

State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, whose office oversees the Lottery, called the omission “disappointing.” Goldberg and other Lottery officials had hoped to research and ultimately introduce products ranging from online lottery ticket sales to a state-run daily fantasy sports operation on a par with Draft Kings.

We think the Legislature made the right move. Expanding state-sponsored gambling options to the internet would be a major step, and deserves a wider debate that includes the public. Any expansion of Lottery offerings should be part of stand-alone legislation, and not tucked into a larger bill.

There are many issues that need to be addressed:

Convenience store owners count on Mega Millions, Powerball, Keno and scratch ticket sales to draw customers to their stores. The possible effect of online sales on those small business owners, who have worked with the Lottery for decades, must be taken into account.

The state’s past inability to competently manage its online portals for the Health Connector and unemployment claims system raises doubts about whether it would be able to handle a complex gaming system. Gamblers and taxpayers need to know any system is fair to users and safe from fraud and identity theft.

The internet is always open and unsupervised, which can create a problem for those with gambling addictions. The state has a responsibility to make sure it is not making the problem worse for those who already need help.

Ultimately, Massachusetts must decide how deeply it wants to rely on gaming as a way to balance its budget. While Lottery executives talk about taking a business approach, they must also remember their clients are taxpayers as well as customers.

“It’s been over 25 years now since the Lottery has offered what I would deem a truly new and innovative game,” state Lottery Director Michael Sweeney told the State House News Service last week. “That was Keno. Everything since then has really been a reissuance of existing concepts, mostly instant tickets,” he said. “If you look at, safely, any business model that’s out there in the United States, being online is a critical component of that business plan.”

In May, Sweeney said a move to the Web is necessary if the Lottery “wants to stay relevant and, respectfully, not become the next bingo.”

While it is true that Lottery revenues were flat last year, the state still collected a large chunk of revenue — about $5 billion. That’s about $740 for every man, woman and child in Massachusetts. We wonder how much the Lottery thinks its residents, prodded by millions of dollars in advertising, should be gambling a year. Is $900 per capita a good number? Or $1,000?

Yes, the profits after payouts go to the state’s cities and towns. But the fact remains that the money often comes from those least able to afford to bet it against long odds.

This is, of course, a free country, and if Massachusetts residents want to spend their hard-earned money on scratch tickets and Keno, that is up to them. But they should also have a voice in whether the Lottery should expand into every pocket of their lives in search of more of their money.

To his credit, Sweeney recognizes there is a debate to be held.

“That issue, iLottery, is a major public policy as well as business decision for the commonwealth to make and there are a lot of complexities to it that may not be obvious at first glance,” Sweeney said. “I wasn’t surprised. Again, it’s a very complex public policy question and I think they got as much done that they could get done and I’m sure at some appropriate point in the future we will revisit it.”

When that happens, the public must be involved in the conversation.





Our view: State's online gambling push needs wider debate | Editorials | salemnews-com

Canadian stocks may continue higher Friday along with rebounding crude oil prices.

A weaker dollar and talk of an OPEC deal to cap production has boosted the energy sector this week.

U.S. WTI crude oil is up near $44 a barrel.

Amaya (AYA.TO AYA.O) says discussions with some suitors about a possible takeover offer have progressed.

The online gambling company beat analysts' second-quarter profit and revenue expectations.

Grocery chain (MRU.TO) says its net profit was up eight percent from last year to $176.5 million or 72 cents per share.

U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in the month of July. Economists anticipated a modest increase.




Read more: TSX Approaching 15,000 After Recent Rally -- Canadian Commentary - NASDAQ-com

The Corporation may, from time to time, make oral forward-looking statements. The Corporation advises that the above paragraph and the risk factors described in this press release and in the Corporation's other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities should be read for a description of certain factors that could cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those in the oral forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any oral or written forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information and statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Read more: Sherritt Announces Q2 2016 Results - Press Release - Digital Journal

First up, a little background. The original Bitcoin was launched by secretive and elusive computer programmer, Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Since then it has set about trying to establish itself as one of the most popular online payment methods with its uniqueness stemming from being the first decentralised asset-backed e-coin to go to market. In a nutshell, Bitcoin is a virtual currency, making it different from e-wallets and bank cards who merely transfer your funds.

Bitcoin money has no place in the real world, no offline worth and no central bank. Its unique appeal has led Bitcoin to commanding an army, some of 100,000 people deep and based all over the world, trading in thousands of dollars every day, including the USA where its decentralised format allows it by-pass US federal banking laws. To that end, a Miami judge recently ruled that Bitcoin cannot actually be counted as real money. In a 2016 money laundering case, Judge Teresa Mary Pooler, based in Florida, ruled that Bitcoin was not backed by any government or bank, and as such cannot be considered “tangible wealth” and “cannot be hidden under a mattress like cash and gold bars.” But, surely that is the very point of it, currency for the web.

Bitcoin experts now believe that the ruling will give the virtual currency a much needed boost as well as gifting other international governments an opportunity to understand and regulate it properly. This, despite one of the largest Bitcoin traders on the web being the victim of a $70m hack attack in early August. The hack did cause the price of Bitcoin to drop about 20%, but investors and insiders believe that the currency will indeed recover and that it remains a worthy system for performing online transactions.

People considering Bitcoin can put their minds at ease. So secure can Bitcoin be considered, that there is significantly less risk employed with the e-coins than there is with credit and debit card based electronic payments systems. Credit card fraud has hit an all-time high across the world in 2015, and while Bitcoin is certainly far from risk free, there is a growing belief that Bitcoin leads the way in terms of online security. In order to access a customer’s bitcoin wallet, the hacker would need to physically access the device before correctly entering the PIN number or have prior knowledge of the wallet’s private key, which, just as with the key and PIN, can be changed at any time.

One of the best ways to secure your safety online is to keep yourself as hidden as possible. True to form, Bitcoin allows its users a level of anonymity as well as offering a way around the submission of ID’s, utility bills and other personal information. With identity theft a growing online threat, this can help to relieve some of the stresses of potential fraud by opening up a whole new, totally safe and secure way of shopping and gambling online. Payments are sent to other users and are done without any actual personal information or online ids changing hands. In doing this, players are unable to see who they are trading with or the country they are residing in.

Bitcoin is still relatively new but some good e-stores and online casinos already offer Bitcoin as a payment option. For those that do, Bitcoin has become an extremely popular option due to crypto-currency, a payment processor for currency where coins are bought and sent over the web, eliminating the need to use a bank. With online casinos employing relatively low fees, users that don’t want to use the more conventional methods such as Paypal or Skrill have another option if they are hoping to avoid Mastercard and Visa’s often much heftier fees. It is also a pleasingly instant option. In all, it would be a surprise if Bitcoin was unsuccessful with regards to online gambling where it resolves a lot of problems. It gives players the opportunity to gamble completely anonymously, while allowing for limitless deposits and fast and secure withdrawals.

As we stand, not all of your favourite casinos and online poker rooms are accepting Bitcoin for deposits but this could be little more than websites merely hedging their bets. It is unlikely to be very long before Bitcoin is a common form of casino payment as, when it comes to online gambling. So while Bitcoin continues to be one of the most secure options out there, the current transaction processing capacity and slow rate of early adopters has thus far prevented it from becoming a mainstream payments option. But watch this space, a system this useful won’t be stalling for long.



Published by: Gola Yashu

It is wrong when people link entertainment and prosperity, because societies can entertain themselves even during wars, and entertainment is present in poor societies such as in Africa and Asia. It is a complete industry that helps establish social righteousness and supports political stability. A society that lacks recreation becomes a place where crime spreads, and where life is distorted, disturbed and devoid of generosity, art, laughter and joy.

In Saudi Arabia, we have all the capabilities to establish creative entertainment that leads to yearning for life and enjoying it. The return of singing concerts to the kingdom reminds us that there is an interest in developing recreation via Vision 2030 and the establishment of a committee for recreation.

There is no point postponing entertainment until there is absolute stability and no war. This objective is impossible and unjustified. Entertainment helps societies overcome crises and disturbances. A society that cooperates in entertainment is more able to confront difficulties, as it achieves an integrated contractual obligation regarding the legitimacy of entertainment via theaters, concerts, comedy shows, painting and other forms.

The role of the committee for recreation is to provide a systematic, economic and human infrastructure to create recreation and turn it into a daily and natural practice. It is impossible to force these projects on everyone, but no one has the right to deprive another of his or her right to entertainment. Legally, one has the right to entertainment just as he or she has the right to life, work and a homeland.!