{"id":38263,"date":"2016-08-09T18:15:11","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T01:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=38263"},"modified":"2016-08-09T16:18:25","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T23:18:25","slug":"uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Regulator Permits Digital Currencies for Use in Online Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UKGC
UKGC is the first significant gambling authority to accept bitcoin as payment transactions, but will its major licensees embrace digital currencies? (Image: fintechist.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UK Gambling<\/a> Commission has quietly become the first major online gambling jurisdiction officially to permit its licensees to accept bitcoin and other digital currencies.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made without fanfare, as an updated clause in its most recently published License Conditions and Codes of Practice.<\/p>\n

It states:<\/p>\n

Licensees, as part of their internal controls and financial accounting systems, 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, designed to minimize the risk of crimes such as money laundering, to avoid the giving of illicit credit to customers and to provide assurance that gambling activities are being conducted in a manner which promotes the licensing objectives.<\/p>\n

And with that tiny insertion of the term \u201cdigital currencies,\u201d the UKGC has authorized the use of all forms of decentralized cryptocurrency in gambling transactions by any of its licensees, as of October 31 this year.<\/p>\n

Malta Holds Back<\/b><\/h2>\n

The only other jurisdiction to have done so thus far is Curacao, a tiny Caribbean Island whose regulatory framework is considered to be lax. The Isle of Man Treasury and its Gambling Supervision Committee, meanwhile, approved similar amendments to its gambling laws in May, although these remain subject to the approval of the island\u2019s government. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, the Malta Gaming Authority<\/a> (MGA), restated its position this week that it approach to bitcoin would continue to be conservative and that it would not become part of its framework.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI still see it as a risk, and the authority\u2019s position is that we still do not accept crypto-currencies,\u201d said MGA chairman, Joseph Cuschieri. \u201cThe authority has received very few requests to accept crypto-currencies, and we have always refused. We are looking to adopting a national approach and given it\u2019s a financial instrument we shall be collaborating with the Central Bank and [Maltese financial authorities].\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Paving the Way <\/b><\/h2>\n

But the UK\u2019s stance could well pave the way for other jurisdictions to do follow suit. As a UK territory closely whose own online gambling jurisdiction is completely independent but closely aligned with the UK\u2019s, Gibraltar is likely to join the party.<\/p>\n

And while the European Union may not be the UK\u2019s biggest fan right now, the country remains a member state, at least for the time being, and has always been a leader in informing EU policy on gambling.<\/p>\n

For a mature market like the UK, which is the biggest in Europe, the regulator\u2019s green-lighting of digital currencies could increase acceptance and understanding of digital currencies among the general public.<\/p>\n

That all depends on the UK\u2019s online gambling giants embracing bitcoin as a new payment method in the coming months; and now, there\u2019s very little reason why they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Gambling Commission has quietly become the first major online gambling jurisdiction officially to permit its licensees to accept bitcoin and other digital currencies. The announcement was made without fanfare, as an updated clause in its most recently published License Conditions and Codes of Practice. It states: Licensees, as part of their internal controls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":38265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Regulator Permits Digital Currencies for Use in Online Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK Gambling Commission became the first major regulator to accept digital currencies, possibly paving the way for a bitcoin gambling revolution.\u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Regulator Permits Digital Currencies for Use in Online Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UK Gambling Commission became the first major regulator to accept digital currencies, possibly paving the way for a bitcoin gambling revolution.\u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-10T01:15:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T23:18:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_281604977.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"502\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"UK Regulator Permits Digital Currencies for Use in Online Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_281604977.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-10T01:15:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-09T23:18:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"UK Gambling Commission became the first major regulator to accept digital currencies, possibly paving the way for a bitcoin gambling revolution.\u00a0 \u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-regulator-permits-digital-currencies-use-online-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_281604977.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shutterstock_281604977.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":502,\"caption\":\"UKGC is the first significant gambling authority to accept bitcoin as payment transactions, but will its major licensees embrace digital currencies? 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