22. What is Virtual Currency
• What is virtual currency?
• What is the connection between
virtual currency and gambling?
• Virtual currency as currency used in social gaming (Value of virtual
currency and virtual goods are generally restricted to virtual world) (E.g.
World of Warcraft Gold, Zynga poker chips)
• Virtual currency as electronic money (Form of alternative currency not
produced by any central banks) (E.g. Bitcoin)
23. Bitcoin
• Created by “Satoshi Nakamoto” – an anonymous or pseudonymous developer or
group of developers
• Debuted in 2009
• Used in peer-to-peer transactions in which participating parties recognize its value
• No central bank or clearing house, no financial regulator, not tied to any currency
• Bitcoin are stored and sent through e-wallets
• Traded/exchanged through online virtual currency exchanges (Mt. Gox, TradeHill)
24. Bitcoin (cont’d)
• Approximately 11 million Bitcoin have been mined, 21 million Bitcoin in total.
• “Miners” – supply Bitcoin network with computing power needed to maintain the
security of the block chain (a distributed technology that acts as Bitcoin’s ledger)
• Every single Bitcoin carries the entire history of the transactions it has undergone, and
any transfer from one owner to another becomes part of the code
• Bitcoin is stored in such a way that the new owner is the only person allowed to spend
it.
• Miners are rewarded with “blocks” of issued bitcoins (a “block” currently contains 25
bitcoins); this is how currency is issued
• Price of Bitcoin fluctuates wildly. As of April 23, 2013, 1 bitcoin is worth $130 USD
(Introduce panelists either at the beginning or end of this slide)
Discuss the two meanings of virtual currency in the context of gaming or gambling.
Virtual currency as currency used in virtual or social gaming.
More recently, gamers are using a form of electronic money not produced by any central banks. In particular, they are using Bitcoin, which has recently been the subject of guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
This panel will shed light on what virtual currency is, what problems and benefits are associated with virtual currency in the iGaming context, and what the future holds for these currencies in iGaming.
<number>
<number>
See Bitcoin fluctuation chart on next slide
<number>