UKGC investigating NFT fantasy soccer league

[The Buzz]

Despite claims from Sorare saying it has been assured by legal experts that it does not offer any forms of regulated gambling, the UK Gambling Commission is warning consumers through a press release that the NFT fantasy soccer platform Sorare isn’t licensed by the gambling regulator.

From the press release:

This means that any activity completed on the site by consumers in Great Britain is outside of the gambling regulations that a licensed operator should comply with.

Consumers are being advised to consider this information when deciding whether or not to interact with the site.

The Gambling Commission is currently carrying out enquiries into the company to establish whether Sorare.com requires an operating licence or whether the services it provides do not constitute gambling.

According to an article on The Block, Sorare has grown "at a fast clip with the explosion of the NFT space."

By 2021, it said it was already profitable. In 2020, the firm raised $4 million in seed funding before going on to raise a $5o million series A and a $680 million series B round led by SoftBank in 2021.

The platform enables soccer fans to trade NFT cards of popular players powered by the Ethereum blockchain. It operates much like other fantasy sports websites. More than 120 football clubs have launched player NFTs on the platform.

While the platform does not have any clear gambling functionalities, the price of player NFTs can be driven by a team's performance. In that way, users can engage in speculation based on game performance.

It is unclear if this amounts to gambling in the eyes of the Gambling Commission. In 2017, the Gambling Commission warned fantasy soccer organizers that they could require a pool betting license from the regulator. In this case, private pools and pools not run in the course of a business were exempt. According to the commission's website, that notice was updated on Feb. 8, 2021, though it isn't clear what changes were made to the content.

Read more here: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/...-league-sorare

[CatalinAMG]

In fairness, the concept is great though. I am curious to see how it will progress over the time.

[CasinoVIPOffers]

I am also interested to see how it goes. Following this one closely.

[Sherlock]

It is already certain that this will end up just with more regulations, more restrictions and those regulations will be this time partly ignored and the regulations will affect even many other things we do not see yet.

NFT gambling can die like ICOs or be regulated and die. Shtcoins will morph into new kind of gambling just because of that regulation. Crypto gambling reminds me designer drugs. Endless whack a mole game that will end by regulating of nearly everything (just bitcoin will likely survive).

[Cash Bonus]

I really doubt it that this will play out well, as Sherlock said.