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NICK HILL
A SMART BET FOR RESPONSIBLE GAMING? Regular Gambling Insider contributor Nick Hill proffers the benefits of putting the player journey on blockchain
IGaming as an industry has grown from strength to strength, worth around $60bn in 2020 with projected growth of a further 11.5% by 2027. Across the globe, the popularity of iGaming is surging as more people get smartphones and benefit from better digital infrastructure. Yet for operators, there are still some key challenges that pose a threat to maximising the opportunities of this growth. One of the most significant considerations is regulatory. Governments and their gambling regulators are often walking a tightrope of
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political convenience. While regulating gambling makes sense from a tax perspective, there are political and social issues to bear in mind too, and regulators are becoming increasingly toothsome in how they control these challenges. Responsible gaming is one of the most significant of the societal issues that regulators are keen to address. Problem gambling undeniably causes serious problems for those it afflicts, with some 19% of problem gamblers even having considered committing
suicide in the past 12 months, compared to just 4.1% of the population as a whole. Steps are already being taken across the industry. Throwing money at the problem helps check the box. But in terms of efficacy, there is so much more that could be done to get a better result – first and foremost for problem gamblers themselves, but for the industry as a whole. Luckily, help is at hand. Waiting in the wings is the gradual rollout of blockchain technology, which will revolutionise the
