As proposed by the Isle of Man’s regulators, gambling licensee may be allowed to introduce payments in BTC and altcoin for their customers alongside deposits and payouts in traditional currencies. A couple of weeks ago, the island’s Gambling Supervision Commission, or GSC, have issued a set of related legislation amendment proposals called the Gambling Regulation Package 2016, which has been supported by the Treasury of the self-governing dependency. Decision-makers have about two weeks from now to come up with their remarks.
The Package, which includes 6 proposed amendments in total, discusses, among other things, the alleged right of GSC to accept conformity certificates issued by other licensing authorities, as well as enabling sub-licensees to take greater advantage of a licensee’s services (even unrelated to gambling), and also expanding gamblers’ scope of control over their gaming activities.
Further, the Gambling Supervision Commission believes it would be reasonable letting its licensees accept players’ payments in convertible cryptocurrencies. The commission attempted to introduce such possibility for licensed gambling operators in 2014 already, but the proposal was rejected by the Department of Economic Development on the grounds Bitcoin and altcoins were being deemed rather asset, not money.
As stated by Bitcoincasino.info, currently the GSC officially prohibits setting up casino gaming accounts in currencies that are not recognized as valid to make payments with (i.e. not considered money), with the necessity to make deposits using conventional electronic payment solutions, although the legislation also allows for “…other means as may be approved by the Commissioners”. According to the Commission, this statement can be modified, so as to enable deposits in either money or other assets that have a value in money etc. While, officially, the GSC’s special approval is still required to determine “the format of the money’s worth”, the Commission has some extra work to be done on seeking for the ultimate wording to capture the changes in the legal act.
As proposed by the GSC, the acceptance of cryptocurrencies by means of alternative payment method will be governed by existing legislation on value protection. With the objective of ensuring counter white-washing measures, the GSC obliges cryptocurrency exchange portals operated by licensed gambling companies to report their activities to reputable financial intelligence authorities.
Source: http://bitcoincasino.info/bitcoin-casino-news/isle-of-man-facilitating-btc-payments-in-online-gambling/
