Crypto Accused of Facilitating Illegal Gambling

Last week, a report claimed that cryptocurrency-based illegal gambling has surged in many parts of Asia owing to the rise of this novel asset class in recent years.

Crypto use in gambling is still limitedEven though online gambling has grown considerably across Asia as well as many other parts of the world recently, the use of cryptocurrency within this domain is still largely contained to some comparatively small, little-used gambling decentralized apps.

Sulim Malook, founder of Crypto Millions Lotto, a licensed Bitcoin lotto, told Cointelegraph that a vast majority of Asia's gambling activities are regulated and not related to its local sporting market.

When asked about why so much of the blame was being placed on crypto even though fiat-based illegal gambling is still thriving, Malook stated that a large portion of the bad publicity is happening because it is easy for government officials and regulators to point fingers at this industry, especially since it is still in its infancy.

Fiat still accounts for a majority of global illegal gambling activitiesTo gain a better understanding of how fiat compares to crypto in relation to illegal gambling, Cointelegraph spoke with John Caldwell, co-founder of ASG Blockchain and director of advocacy of CasinoCoin Foundation.

"Methods to support illicit gambling via fiat have been tried and true for decades now, and the tools that blockchain and crypto provide to battle this should be the focus. Will politicos/governments figure this out? I am hopeful, but we shall see. Given the direction of governments toward national digital currencies, one would hope a government would see that using a digital currency and its supporting tools to shed more light on all transactions is the answer."

The key to crypto gambling is to bring more clarity to the entire processDespite the anti-crypto gang reiterating the mantra that "Crypto is untraceable," the fact of the matter remains that most cryptocurrencies are actually more traceable than cash.

While the growth of the illegal gambling market should be a reason for concern to regulatory bodies across the globe, putting the blame largely on crypto does not help solve anything.

"I don't believe illegal gambling will ever be curbed or contained since a whole lot of people like betting on sports. In fact, illegal gambling markets will only grow due to technological advances."

On a somewhat similar note, Caldwell pointed out that the key to unifying the crypto and gambling world is by bringing more clarity to the entire betting process.