{"id":57072,"date":"2017-08-19T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=57072"},"modified":"2017-08-19T07:42:32","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T14:42:32","slug":"isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/","title":{"rendered":"Isle of Man Issues World\u2019s First \u2018Skin-betting\u2019 License"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESP.bet, operator of specialist esports fantasy league<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\"Isle
It is now possible to be licensed for gambling with \u201canything which has a value in money\u2019s worth,\u201d even the colourful designer weapons, or \u201cskins,\u201d found in the game Counter Strike: Global Offensive (pictured). (Image: Valve Corp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The license was awarded last week by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC).<\/p>\n

The \u201cskins\u201d in skin-betting refer to the virtual designer weapons that can be found with varying degrees of rarity in the video game \u201cCounter Strike: Global Offensive\u201d (CS:GO), which act as an in-game currency.<\/p>\n

But because skins can be transferred to third-party sites, they, and other video game virtual items like them, can be assigned a real world value too.<\/p>\n

The unregulated gambling industry that has sprung up around the trading of these virtual items was said to be worth $5 billion in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u2018Anything of Value\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Isle of Man, which as a jurisdiction regulates online gambling giants like PokerStars<\/a> and BetVictor, announced in February it had updated its regulations in order to respond to the changing technological environment and to offer some oversight to a lawless industry.<\/p>\n

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>\n

Scott 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>\n

Last 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":"\nIsle of Man Issues World\u2019s First \u2018Skin-betting\u2019 License to ESP.bet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ESP.bet has become the first ever operator to hold a license that specifically permits them to offer gambling with virtual currencies, courtesy of the Isle of Man.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Isle of Man Issues World\u2019s First \u2018Skin-betting\u2019 License to ESP.bet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ESP.bet has become the first ever operator to hold a license that specifically permits them to offer gambling with virtual currencies, courtesy of the Isle of Man.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/\" \/>\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=\"2017-08-19T17:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-19T14:42:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/skin-gambling.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\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\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/\",\"name\":\"Isle of Man Issues World\u2019s First \u2018Skin-betting\u2019 License to ESP.bet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/skin-gambling.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-19T17:00:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-19T14:42:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"ESP.bet has become the first ever operator to hold a license that specifically permits them to offer gambling with virtual currencies, courtesy of the Isle of Man.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/isle-man-issues-worlds-first-skin-betting-license-esp-bet\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/skin-gambling.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/skin-gambling.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"It is now possible to be licensed for gambling with \u201canything which has a value in money\u2019s worth,\u201d even the colourful designer weapons, or \u201cskins,\u201d found in the game Counter Strike: Global Offensive (pictured). 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