Isle of Man Grants License to Ethereum-Based Lottery

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3 November 2017

The Isle of Man has approved a gaming license for a blockchain lottery.

The ethereum-powered lottery was developed by Quanta, which describes the drawing as fully transparent and fair, with provably random results. Smart contracts manage the process from end to end, the company said.

Obtaining a license from a national government was part of Quanta’s business development strategy, it said. The first step in its ticketing process verifies that the purchaser meets know-your-customer requirements.

The Isle of Man’s Gambling Supervision Commission has been “an incredibly supportive regulator, committed to understanding our unique technology” said Lee Hills, chief operating officer of Quanta, in a press release.

At the same time, he said:

“[The commission is] maintaining absolute dedication to the principles of ensuring the Island’s gambling industry remains crime free, protects the young and vulnerable, and ensures our services are fair and that players receive their true winnings.”

The lottery is available independently or as a white label product. Quanta does not appear to be operating an open lottery yet. The company was not immediately available for further comment.

“We are delighted to welcome a new company to one of the Island’s fastest growing sectors,” Daphne Cain, a member of the island’s Department of Economic Development, said in the release. “The Isle of Man’s regulations and compliance procedures are specifically designed to accelerate cryptocurrency and e-Gaming industry growth on the Island.”

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly provided the name of the company as Qanta. This has now been corrected.

Lottery balls photo from Shutterstock.