Chinese authorities have busted a world cup gambling ring that was hosting more than 10B Yuan or 1.5B dollars – all in cryptocurrencies. More than 300,000 players from different countries and 8000 agents were involved who were earning commissions for helping people placing bets.
South china morning post says that the agents were also earning money by referring members through pyramid scheme. World Cup gambling is done worldwide but gambling is illegal in China and the country is cracking down on it.
More than 540 suspects are in custody and more than 260 million yuan is frozen as well.
While the country has been busting gambling activities in China from quite sometime, it is the first time cryptocurrency is involved.
Cryptocurrencies know no boundaries and people from all around the world are able to place bets without any problems – no banks or government regulations are involved. Transfer is nearly instant in most cases and very small fees is charged by the cryptocurrency miners.
And that is the main reason, people are more comfortable in using cryptocurrencies for gambling than real money. There is also less chance of getting caught as one does not even need to be in a country in order to gamble.