During a live town hall hosted by stock trading app Public Wednesday, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said he had looked into adding cryptocurrencies as a form of payment on his online sports betting platform but that regulations have so far prevented him from doing so.
He explained that the payment methods they can accept on their website and sports betting apps are heavily dictated by individual state regulators, as each states has its own rules and regulations regarding online sports betting and payments used on the platform.
Why Can’t DraftKings Support Cryptocurrencies?
Robins who started the sports betting company in 2012 said that while he would like to have cryptocurrencies as a way to place bets on the website, crypto is not approved as a method of payment in any of the states that DraftKings currently operates in.
“The payment methods we can accept are determined by the individual state regulators and as of now, crypto is not an approved payment type in any of the states where we’re live.”
This is especially important to note as only 10 states in the United States allows sports betting and only four allows online gambling and DraftKings currently operates in 12 states.
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Sports betting has started gaining a lot of support recently as enthusiasm over the emerging industry grows, with Wyoming in April passing a bill that allows bets to be placed on online sports betting platforms using cryptocurrencies.
The CEO believes that cryptocurrencies will disrupt entire industries, while partially disrupting others.
All of this is in the midst of calls for regulation for cryptocurrencies. Some people believe that cryptocurrencies need to be regulated as soon as possible while others believe that over-regulation will stifle the growth of the cryptocurrency market.
Everyone wants to get in on crypto, but regulators won't allow it yet | Source: CRYPTOCAP-TOTAL on TradingView.com
SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce has called for stricter but fairer rules on crypto and so has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), amongst others.
Although being able to pay with cryptocurrencies on the DraftKings online sports betting website is still a ways away in the future, the town hall was received positively by investors in the cryptocurrency market. Most pointing out that with such a large user base as DraftKings possesses, which is currently at about eight million users, it will lead to more crypto adoption when made an option to place bets with cryptocurrencies.
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DraftKings reported a 2021 fiscal year revenue guidance in the range of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion, from the previous range of $900 million to $1 billion, which equates to a year-over-year growth of 63% to 79%. With research firms like Eilers & Krejick Gaming speculating that online sports betting will generate $5.8 billion in revenue by 2023, it’s no surprise that crypto enthusiasts are thrilled with CEO Jason Robins declaring that he would like to add cryptocurrencies as a method of payment for the platform, as this would mean that a good amount of that revenue would be done in cryptocurrencies.
