The new rules also permit licensees accept transactions in bitcoin and other digital currencies,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is now possible to open an account with an Isle of Man gambling operator by using\u00a0anything which has a value in money\u2019s worth,\u201d said the regulator. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nScott Burton, chief executive of ESP.bet, said: \u201cTo date, esports betting and the gambling of virtual goods has largely been a grey market, with a lot of unregulated operators failing to protect their customers. We\u2019ve always taken a more transparent approach, undertaking \u2018know your customer\u2019 checks to verify age and running a really clear game system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this licence, that work has been validated and I feel like we have taken the first step towards building a regulated marketplace that is safe for consumers, businesses, and investors,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Taming the West<\/strong><\/h2>\nLast year, after being threatened with various lawsuits accusing it of facilitating underage gambling, makers of CS:GO, Valve, moved to crush the third-party betting sites that had adopted their currency.<\/p>\n
Valve denied it facilitated or profited from skin-gambling and told the sites their operations were in breach of its terms and conditions, ordering them to cease and desist.<\/p>\n
Today, skin-gambling is the Wild West of online betting, but ultimately, as the esports market matures and the virtual betting markets with it, operators will begin to seek long-term growth. Licensing and regulation will likely become increasingly necessary to achieve this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ESP.bet, operator of specialist esports fantasy league and betting website, eSportsPools, has become the proud owner of the first ever gaming license that covers \u201cskin-betting,\u201d or gambling with virtual goods. The license was awarded last week by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC). The \u201cskins\u201d in skin-betting refer to the virtual designer weapons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":57073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,3312,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Isle of Man Issues World\u2019s First \u2018Skin-betting\u2019 License to ESP.bet<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n