Hashing It Out Episode 11: Social Responsibility for Gambling Operators Conference Special

KnowNow’s Social Responsibility for Gambling Operators Conference took place in London on September 7,  and commercial blockchain solution provider nChain was in attendance as a sponsor and panelist.

nChain’s BSV Blockchain-powered Kensei solution was launched on July 22, an exciting piece of news for the iGaming industry because of Kensei’s unique ability to solve pain points within Responsible Gambling initiatives.

In this episode of Hashing It Out, we provide a window into the needs of iGaming companies for responsible gambling data management and their perception of blockchain technology as a solution.  Our three guests were attendees at the event on the 7th and provide unique perspectives into the use of the latest technology to keep players safe.

Peter Higgins is a Commercial Mediator who specializes in Gambling Disputes, and one of the panelists who was alongside nChain at the event.

“I get engaged when there’s a dispute between an operator and a client that’s grey, not quite clear, hasn’t been settled and I avoid it going to litigation,” Higgins explained.

“So I get pulled in as a referee, as a facilitator. And these disputes could be five figures, up to seven figures. So it’s very, very new in the gambling industry. It’s very common in the business sector in general, but it’s a growing area because of things like social responsibility and so forth,” he said.

Higgins is hopeful the introduction of technology that records problem gambling communications to an immutable ledger will prevent an escalation of disputes in the future.

“I’m basically dealing with stages that we’re trying to avoid going to litigation. So if you can have these ledgers in place that prove what was placed when with some different examples, in crude terms, it’s basically more evidence for the operator or for the client in that case,” he said.

“So I think that would be a great area for assisting in terms of making sure that disputes don’t go to dispute resolution,” Higgins added.

David Clifton, Director of Clifton Davies Consultancy Limited, has years of experience in all licensing, gambling and associated compliance and regulatory issues affecting the U.K. leisure industry. Clifton also served as the chair for the Social Responsibility for Gambling Operators Conference and emphasized the recurring theme of data at the event.

“We had Tim Miller, who’s Executive Director at the [UK Gambling] Commission, speaking first thing this morning. And I think the word data pretty well sums up the major emphasis of his presentation,” Clifton confirmed.

“The data is there. It’s a question of how operators are using that data. But what has been happening—and that’s been evidenced certainly by a number of the sessions today—is that the technology is becoming more complex, but also becoming more available,” he shared.

“I think the expectation on the part of the commission is that if the technology is there to assist, as far as safer gambling processes are concerned, operators should be using it,” Clifton revealed.

While blockchain has emerged as the most efficient technology for data management and storage, Clifton pointed out reservations that the regulators and other iGaming businesses have.

“A lot of us are still learning about blockchain. I think that it’s something that up to now from a U.K. gambling regulatory perspective has been too closely associated possibly with cryptocurrencies and so on,” Clifton explained.

“And certainly the gambling commission here do have concerns from a regulatory perspective, money laundering and potential money laundering concerns there,” he said.

“So it was illuminating, to be honest, to hear how this blockchain technology can be utilized in terms of providing a potential safer gambling solution,” Clifton said of nChain’s participation in one of the panels.

He summarized, “I think what we’ve learnt today is the manner in which blockchain can be used to track the player journey, to show the markers, the indicators of gambling related harm. And so that’s what this technology is really powerful at doing. And that’s why I expect we’re going to be finding out a lot more about it. I’m hearing a lot more from the commission about it.”

Clifton’s comments echo the sentiments Nick Hill of Premier Trading has been sharing via his articles at CoinGeek and throughout various speaking commitments, including a panel at the Social Responsibility for Gambling Operators Conference on behalf of nChain.

“The essence here is responsible gaming for us and how blockchain can benefit and assist with responsible gaming,” Hill said of his presence at the conference.

“The use of blockchain enables an operator to almost take out an insurance policy against potential penalties or fines…the communication between that player and the operator can be logged on the ledger and is then an immutable source of truth,” he said.

Hill went on to explain his work with nChain for the iGaming industry and how nChain’s Kensei platform is turbo charged for use within the iGaming space.

“Now with the notarisation capabilities of Kensei, this is where we can start to use the blockchain within the responsible gaming vertical,” Hill explained.

“Kensei is bridging that gap between the legacy technologies that the operators are using and the new technology—BSV Blockchain—is where it’s so well positioned at the moment,” he said.

During his panel, Hill also made several references to Crucial Compliance, a player protection platform that will be plugging into the notarization services of Kensei, providing socially responsible iGaming operators with a one-of-a-kind solution.

“nChain are working very closely with them and others, but Crucial Compliance are the first ones, they’ve got first mover advantage,” Hill revealed.

Coming up at CoinGeek New York, Hill will be participating in my iGaming panel with Crucial Compliance and kompany, a KYC platform that will also be plugging into Kensei. Please join us in person or online on October 6 to learn more about how the Kensei platform can alleviate the pain points that come along with player protection and so much more.