Wyoming passes House Bill 133, allowing online sports betting and becomes first state to allow cryptocurrency to fund accounts
This week, Wyoming passed a House Bill that would legalize online sports betting in the state and it joined a growing list of U.S. states that already offer the online product to their people.
Not that much newsworthy you would think, other than it being good news for its residents. However, what is different is that players in Wyoming will now be able to fund their accounts by using cryptocurrency.
House Bill 133 was signed on Monday by governor Mark Gordon and will come in effect September 1 allowing residents aged 18+ to start placing online bets.
The bill includes legislature that recognizes crypto as a way to fund your account. As is stated in section 1 of the legislature, cryptocurrency and other digital or virtual currencies are seen as cash equivalents and are approved to stake your online betting accounts.
With the House Bill turning into law, the state of Wyoming will become the first in the U.S. to allow deposits in cryptocurrency for online betting or other gambling purposes.
A minimum of five licenses are up for grabs which will significantly boost the chances that at least one operator will allow customers the option of cryptocurrency to be used to fund their accounts.
The onus will of course be on the operators and it is up to them to decide what best fits their business model. While on the other side of the pond, cryptocurrency has been allowed by the UK gambling Commission since 2016, it is not yet popular among (the larger and regulated) online operators whose operations are mainly centered around fiat-currency with crypto’s volatility posing a certain risk.
According to the legislature, the state will only allow licenses to operators that already offer their services in at least three other states, which will narrow down the playing field. DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM will likely be among those interested in the license. However so far these operators have not openly expressed any interest in implementing cryptocurrency.
The state of Wyoming is running a liberal policy towards cryptocurrencies and the approval of crypto as a cash equivalent to be used in online betting is yet another example of this.
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Source: igaming
