Crypto exchange ZenSports optimistic over Nevada betting license
CEO Mark Thomas insists state regulator is “quite comfortable” with operator’s decentralized product
Decentralized peer-to-peer betting exchange ZenSports is confident that the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) will approve its license to launch the product in the state.
ZenSports will be the first formally licensed crypto sports betting platform to operate in the US if given the greenlight.
CEO Mark Thomas told EGR NA he was confident the firm would be allowed to maintain its betting exchange model in Nevada.
“We’re doing some analysis, specifically within Nevada, as to what the Nevada Gaming Control Board will allow from a peer-to-peer perspective,” he said.
“It looks like we probably will be okay with even an intermediary licensee such as ours.”
“I think the NGCB is getting quite comfortable with the product and we feel good about that tech certification process happening in the next couple months. I think nothing that we’re doing is a surprise to them,” he added.
At present, the operator’s main markets are Africa and Eastern Europe.
“We focus on a demographic that I think has been shut out of traditional sports betting,” Thomas said.
“We have a lot of unbanked customers that may not necessarily qualify for traditional bank accounts and thus can’t necessarily fund traditional sports betting accounts,” he added.
Within its platform, ZenSports uses its own token as a currency, as well as other cryptocurrencies and fiat money.
ZenSports has partnered with Nevada-based brick-and-mortar operator Strategic Gaming Management with the option to acquire one of its retail properties.
“We’re expecting it to take six to nine months to go through [the licensing process],” Thomas added.
“I mean, we have no skeletons in our closet or issues that we know of, so we should be fine.”