MGA Gives Casino Cryptocurrency Green Light
Tia Winter | 2 August 2017The burgeoning pop
ularity of digital currencies like Bitcoin has not gone unnoticed by the online casino industry. Multiple new casino brands have added digital currency payment options to their platforms to allow their players a wider range of transactional choices, and now even major iGaming authorities have signed on to endorse these currencies as a convenient and secure way to play.
Most recently, it has been reported by several authorities that the Maltese government is advancing its own strategy with regard to the industry’s latest payment options. Malta is now set to begin allowing the use of digital currencies, including Bitcoin, at all of the online casinos licensed under the well-known Malta Gaming Authority.
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) regulates and licenses both online and land-based gambling around the world. Now, the authority has collated and presented an in-depth study detailing how it plans to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies to ensure fairness in the iGaming world.
Authorities To Release New Digital Currency Framework
Concerns have been voiced around Bitcoin’s anonymity in the past, especially considering its potential applications in money-laundering and fraud. Because Bitcoin and digital currency transactions cannot be traced back to their sources, many experts are concerned that using these currencies in the online casino realm could effectively render all current financial regulations null and void.
Executive Chairman of the MGA Joseph Cuschieri believes that, alongside the numerous risks they pose to the iGaming industry, digital currencies also present great opportunities for operators. In a recent comment, the Chairman noted that details on the framework governing cryptocurrencies will soon be announced, once risk assessment is performed.
Once the results of this study have been scrutinised, he noted, the MGA will announce its official position on exactly how the use of cryptocurrencies will be adopted.
Malta Plans To Become First Country To Embrace Blockchain
The announcement of the MGA accepting digital currency transactions closely follows the government of Malta investing their trust in Blockchain technology, using the system on which Bitcoin is based for numerous national applications.
Local authorities remain hopeful that Malta will become the world’s leading user of Blockchain’s various financial tools, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat noting last April that the country must be among the first to embrace the ‘crucial innovation’. Malta must not simply wait for others to take action in order to copy them, the Prime Minister noted – the country should set an example for the rest of the world instead.
Source links:
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/3809/malta-plans-to-legalise-digital-currencies-at-online-casinos