nChain Chief Scientist Dr. Craig S Wright has set out his vision for how the iGaming sector can leverage the properties of Bitcoin SV (BSV) for more secure, transparent gambling.
In a presentation delivered at the SiGMA 2019 event in Malta, Dr. Wright said the BSV blockchain was perfectly suited to the needs of the iGaming sector, in large part as a result of the security that comes from creating an immutable public record of transactions.
“Unfortunately in the last 11 years a lot of things have been said about what bitcoin is. The reality is, practically every one of them is wrong. Security is because of section 3 of the whitepaper—everything is public,” he said. “There is no such thing as a private blockchain and never can be. The security of a private blockchain is zero. Hashes don’t secure the network – only publication of the hash secures the network.”
Dr. Wright explained the use case for pari-mutuel betting, a unique form of betting which can be delivered by bitcoin technology.
Instead of betting against a bookmaker, wagers are placed against other gamblers who have bet on the same event. All wagers are pooled and then shared between the winners, with a smaller percentage of total bets deducted by the house, typically a state run body or a private company specializing in pari-mutuel betting.
Pari-mutuel betting can be delivered through microtransactions on BSV, and automated with the help of smart contracts to create more efficient systems with provably fair outcomes and even direct remittance of taxes and fees to regulators and governments.
BSV allows for provably fair betting because the ledger is public, and cannot be anonymous. According to Dr. Wright, this allows for the iGaming sector to be completely transparent, reducing the need for external auditing while providing greater peace of mind to players.
If we’re going to have a legal, regulated industry, you need to pay the bills including to government. Bitcoin enables a situation where the government can monitor records knowing they are accurate and secure, recorded on blockchain.
He noted, “BSV allows the development of games with licenses built in so that the regulators get paid, without bothering operators – saving money and making everyone more profit. Regulators get paid faster without worrying about fraud or crime.”
The comments come at a time of growing interest in BSV within the iGaming sector, with operators keen to take advantage of the efficiency gains delivered by blockchain systems.
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