Inside Asian Gaming

JAN 2019 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 23 By Ed Brennan Ed Brennan is President of CashBet. He has over 25 years combined experience spanning the internet, software, hardware and financial services industries, supporting all operational functions at Fortune 500 companies including Merrill Lynch, Seagate and Adobe. T h ere was a significant amount of media focus in 2018 on the positive disruption cryptocurrencies (crypto) and blockchain are having in the iGaming sector – and with good reason. Estimates from research bodies already categorise 60% of Bitcoin-based transactions as iGaming related and this is likely only the start. Putting 2018 aside, if we are to shift our focus onto what effect crypto and blockchain based technology is going to have on gambling in 2019, my prediction is that the next wave of positive disruption will be the shift of crypto and blockchain adoption from beyond just online and towards land-based casinos. So what place does crypto have in a physical casino? It is interesting to think of a time when a player can walk into a casino in Macau armed with only a crypto e-wallet on his or her smartphone – no dollar bills, no credit cards – but I can assure you, it’s going to happen soon enough. Crypto is fundamentally different to the traditional paper currency (fiat) currently used in land-based gambling and leveraging any blockchain technology to facilitate payments and wagering will do far more than a traditional gambling chip ever could. Land-based casinos are yet to truly adopt the use of blockchain and cryptocurrency CashBet President Ed Brennan explains why the use of cryptocurrency in land- based casinos is not only inevitable but should be welcomed with open arms.