Government mouthpiece NPR has taken on the subject of Bitcoin gambling on their programming “All Things Considered.” The radio station is a publicly funded radio station in the US, and covers diverse statist topics in monotone morning voices. It is a liberal mouthpiece funded by foundations and Non-governmental organizations in the interest of maintaining “international peace” – that is, no opposition to the status quo. There was nothing inherently wrong with NPRs coverage of Bitcoin gambling, and I must compliment Seals With Clubs, whose spokesperson handled the question quite well regarding whether or not bitcoins are monies.
The story begins by detailing that over the last year websites have begun allowing users to gamble with Bitcoins. The NPR journalist states,
“In the pure interest of journalism I decided to get my hands on some bitcoins. It turns out, while it is really easy for somebody to give you bitcoins, it is less easy to just by them from a third party. And so, I asked a friend with btc to send me some and I would buy him some beers later on. I created an account and he shot me a few. The first game I tried toplay was Satoshi Dice, which has games specifically designed for bitcoins. It’s boring, however. You just bet on whether a random dice roll will come up above or below a certain number. I played and received an email saying that I had just received .0024597 bitcoins worth $0.38. I bet 0.34 and made $0.38, so I came up. That’s good!
The report makes it clear that the Justice Department has made it very clear that one cannot simply open up an offshore casino online and begin taking bets using actual US currency. Last year, a couple of entrepreneurs, the report says, wondered about betting in strictly BTC.The report wonders whether or not that means these casinos can circumvent regulators. Financial earnings of Satoshi Dice was nearly half a million dollars in six months of operations in 2012 accepting BTC bets. “That could turn into a legal black hole,” according to the report. Brian of Seals With Clubs says “We don’t have a bank account at Seals of Clubs, ther is no bank of any sort. We only do this one brand new internet protocol transactions that some nerds are calling money. It’s just a piece of computer code, not really money.”The Justice Department denied to comment when NPR contacted them regarding Bitcoin gambling. The reporter sums up the report:”My winnings are still in Bitcoin. It is up to me to convert those back to dollars.” The report ponders whether because the casinos do not convert the money themselves, they are themselves not so sure of the legality of their companies.”That means, I still have 0.38 bitcoins in my account – that is, if it hasn’t already been raided by the feds.”
Listen here.
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[VIA Silver Vigilante]
