Brexit Influence On Bitcoin Online Gambling And The EU
After the UK voted to leave the EU all types of problems have arisen for the online gambling industry, especially those registered on gaming commissions that belonged to the UK and EU like the ones licensed in Gibraltar, such as William Hill. The first effect after the Brexit was a complete devaluation of the British Pound, which in effect strengthen Bitcoin as a safe haven outside of Central Bank jurisdiction. So what does this means for UK based casinos and players? A lot may change and players might want to take proper steps to protect their existing balance.
Online Casinos paying in Bitcoin
First thing to note is the increase in use of Bitcoin as the preferred deposit and withdrawal method by online casinos. Casinos targeting the USA like Café Casino, a newborn project in 2016, is basely using Bitcoin for all its transactions to and from players. Why? Here are all the benefits of using bitcoin for online gambling:
- Pay no fees.
- $90,000USD per transaction
- Not affected by any government economic policies (like the Brexit)
- No taxes.
- Anonymous transactions.
- Withdraw from any country in almost any currency.
That´s right, online casino prefer to pay in bitcoin now instead of using e-wallets and credits cards because they don´t have to pay a fee to financial institutions and avoid paying taxes to governments. As most casinos are licensed off-shore, taxing is not a problem and since all transactions are anonymous, well, there is so much institutions like the American IRS can do. Then there is the plus that if UK players get paid in Bitcoins for their gaming efforts and exchange that to British pounds the exchange will be incredible favorable to their behalf in present 2016 conditions.
The Complexity of 6 Gambling Jurisdictions Involved in the Brexit
Online gambling laws and jurisdictions in the UK are a beautiful complexity. There are 6 overlapping license jurisdictions used by online casinos:
- UK Gambling Commission (UKGC)
- Gibraltar Regulatory Authority
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
- Jersey Gambling Commission
- Guernsey Gambling Control Commission
From the six the UKFC, Gibraltar and Isle of Man licenses are the most popular amongst online casinos registered in the country. With the Brexit all of these authorities will automatically leave the country as their locations over seas land on EU territory. When these gaming commissions become part of the EU the license terms for casinos will be a lot harsher, tougher tax rates and more transparency in monetary transactions, something that is currently too soft in the UK.
Gibraltar Operators
The Gibraltar commissions has several of the most important online casino licenses like William Hill, the small territory lies at the tip of Spain but has since belonged to the UK but also is a member if the EU. With the Brexit Gibraltar will belong to the UK along and movement of employees between Spain and Gibraltar will be more difficult.
Italian Players Might be blocked for UK Licensed Casinos
Italian law requires online casinos to be registered in the EU territory, but not only that, it also requires for the physical infrastructure to be located (at least a part of it) inside the EU. With these terms many online casinos and poker sites might end up blocking Italian players if they remain inside the UK.
The Future for Online Gambling with the Brexit
With International law changing all over, online casinos will have to either relocate to avoid EU laws or spun sister companies, like happened when the gambling laws changed in the USA back in 2008. At that time many online casinos and gambling sites had to leave the USA to avoid the FBI persecution, companies like Bodog Casino re-entered the market with its sister company Bovada Casino, which operates just for American players under different conditions than its parent company, which is still under the eye of the FBI for tax evasion. The same might occur in Europe, with casinos splitting into two to cater both UK and EU players. Till that occurs every online casino player has to be very careful with their funds currently online, and ask their customer support about the state of their account which could suddenly be illegal.