Betting on those with a track record of success is always an investor’s first instinct, at least when those with the track record are looking to replicate their success in a new venture of the same kind. This is what we find in Betking, who finished up their initial operations in December last year, having returned all investor funds and profited some 7400 bitcoins on top of that. They are now looking to relaunch, with a funding round beginning August 7th to help with the process.
Their goal is to build a better casino than before, and, in their own words, “allow casino websites and app owners to integrate with our platform.” While they are hardly the only effort in this direction – DAO.casino is doing something very similar to that aspect – there is plenty of room in the cryptocurrency gambling industry.
While metrics on such an industry are hard to get and even harder to verify, we do know that there was a time when the likes of SatoshiDice was using so much space on the blockchain that nodes were released which could ignore their traffic. We know that gambling is one of the applications where cryptocurrency’s immutability comes into play, especially when the casinos themselves can be decentralized, thwarting any effort at law enforcement. We know that the likes of PrimeDice pays out on the order of 100s of bitcoins per day, with a 1% rakeback.
In essence, while we wouldn’t necessarily suggest investing in a casino on the Vegas strip or in Atlantic City, when the opportunity presents itself to invest in a virtual casino, it’s worth taking a thorough look. Before we go much further, let’s run down the elements and costs of a successful crypto casino:
- Reliable, secure servers.
- Marketing.
- Bankroll.
- Development.
The last part is where costs can balloon. So far many Bitcoin casinos have wound up contracting their games through the same companies. Some like CloudBet manage to offer live games with employees. Their costs are clearly higher than will be the costs at BetKing, and such games could not be provably fair because the use of physical cards presents an opportunity for one side of the equation to pretty flagrantly cheat.
There is a method of operating a casino that says you will receive 1% of all the funds that come through the place, but for this to work, you have to be able to pay out significant losses at various times. Thus, no casino can start without enough to presume that players are winning 100% of the time, for awhile at least.
BETKING Team
The apparent anonymity of the BETKING team is problematic for multiple reasons. The first reason this is problematic is that we are talking about significant amounts of money. The incentive to run can quickly become higher than the incentive to stay. We must take this opportunity to dock a full 5.5 points from the overall safety rating of BETKING as a result of its anonymous team. While numbers can speak for themselves, due diligence provides that we offer significant caution against anonymous investments.
BETKING Token Overview
The BETKING token is an appreciating asset which will ultimately earn its maximum profit one time. While the tokens can be traded between people before they are sold, the likelihood of there being a large market around BETKING tokens is pretty limited. Therefore when you buy the token, you are betting that BETKING will be able to recoup enough funds through operation to pay you a premium on the amount you paid for the token, even if you bought it from a broker or some sort who went in bigger and is cutting out early.
100 million of these “bankroll tokens” will be issued. The income generated from their sale will be used in a variety of ways, but the funds which are used to buy them back will only come from bankrolled games such as dice or blackjack – games where the player is playing directly against the house. It is important to note that the rules of luck dictate that there can be losses here, it’s just not likely, nor are such losses permanent when there is enough funds to cover them. In reality, a casino must volunteer to go out of business, because it can always opt to not offer bets which would lower its bankroll beyond a sustainable rate. You have to assume that since BETKING has already operated successfully once, it will be able to do this.
However, the games which the token is developing will be licensed to other casinos as well, and there is no mention of any of this revenue being used to buy back tokens.
Another drawback to this system is that every token holder is only eligible to sell up to 10% of their tokens during each buyback period. While this might in principal mean bigger profits long term, it also equates to an unnecessary lack of freedom for the investors. If they want to cash out for less profit in the short term, there is no good reason they shouldn’t be able to. However, putting such limits in place does make it evident that BETKING intends to make good on their word. Nevertheless, a smart contract could be authored which would automate all of the above processes.
The Verdict
The author is a dedicated gambler and never had even heard of BETKING.io before this assignment. This does not mean they aren’t a big deal, but it does speak to their marketing abilities. A lot of the periods through which they earned their money, bitcoins were significantly cheaper. There is a lot not to like about this ICO. We’ve already deducted 5.5 points for the anonymous nature of the apparent team. Now we will deduct another 2 points for the likelihood that profits will be slow, and people will suffer, and the house will simply be winning on two crowds instead of one in this case. This leaves a verdict of 2.5 for BETKING. Proceed with caution.
Investment Details
On August 7th, BETKING will post more details on how to invest in their ICO, to get some of the 100 million shares in their future profits. If you wish to proceed with this investment, against our advice, then we advise you to get on their mailing list so that you will receive proper notice.
Bron: Hacked
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