The gambling sector’s interest in blockchain technology is reaching a fever point, as early adopters look to develop frameworks and seek regulatory powers.
Maltese authorities have recently approved three bills to regulate the use of cryptocurrency and blockchains in gambling, and it looks as though these first steps are dragging the associations with them.
What is the GSA doing?
The Gaming Standards Association (GSA) announced it was launching a new blockchain committee back in February during ICE Totally Gaming and Earle G. Hall, CEO of AxesNetwork, was named committee chair. This was followed by an April meeting in London between GSA and GSA Europe, hosted by Playtech.
GSA standards are created through collaboration among volunteer representatives of its members and are in use around the world to drive innovation and growth. Over the past 20 years, more than 1,600 volunteers from more than 190 companies have contributed their expertise to create 15 GSA standards in nine committees.
Why a new committee?
With blockchain technology poised to revolutionize data sharing and security, the new blockchain technical committee will collaboratively address the technology and advise on possible areas where standards could be developed. Among the critical initial topics are reference architecture studies, authentication methodologies, external interface compatibility, and the impact on and potential for central monitoring systems.
Committee Chair Hall said: “Blockchain is the answer to so many of our inefficiencies. It is inherently designed for transparent, secure, and distributed information flow. Blockchain will exponentially increase the potential for collaboration, efficiency, and connectivity. I am very grateful to the membership for their vote of confidence with respect to my nomination. I am excited to pool together all the talent I can to serve our members in this need to embrace this revolution.”
With regulators on the Isle of Man and Gibraltar also rolling out licenses for blockchain and cryptocurrency gambling companies, it’s only a matter of time before the larger world powers start introducing blockchain within their own government organizations.
America seems keen for its federal government to explore blockchain technology with a series of pilot schemes because of its potential to improve the security of supply chains or energy distribution and to enable “smart” documents that can be self-administered or audited.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently published a sources sought notice, seeking information from industry leaders and experts about how blockchain technology can assist the government in performing its functions. That’s just another sign that blockchain is simply not going away.
