Bitcoin currency online casino sold for $11.5 million
News on 19 Jul 2013
News on 19 Jul 2013
BITCOIN CURRENCY ONLINE CASINO SOLD FOR $11.5 MILLION
Satoshi Dice transaction appropriately conducted in Bitcoins
The first major acquisition of an online gambling company accepting the Bitcoin virtual currency has taken place, with online casino firm SatoshiDice sold to an undisclosed buyer for 126,315 Bitcoins, or about $11.5 million, reports the publication TNW.
The buyer of the betting company, which was launched in April 2012 and reportedly has revenues above $50,000 a month, has not yet been disclosed.
The site features a simple ‘lucky dice game’; internet punters send Bitcoins to the site and pick a number. ‘The Ghost of Satoshi’ rolls a lucky number and those who selected a number that is lower than the one on the dice win.
TechWeek reports that to date, the site has seen more than 5.3 million bets placed and has paid out more than 3.9 million wins. The company says winnings are dispatched within 30 seconds, while it charges a small transaction fee on each bet.
Listed on the Romanian MPEX Bitcoin exchange, SatoshiDice is based in Panama and Dublin, where founder Erik Voorhees this week revealed that the acquisition deal represents a 277 percent premium on its sale price and a 175 percent premium on the company’s valuation according to MPEX.
Addressing shareholders this week, Voorhees said:
“While I know some S.DICE owners intended to hold for a long time, and will thus be dismayed by the buyout, it is my sincere hope that this compensation level will be amenable. It is substantially higher than the contract mandates, and it is almost 3x higher than all private owners are being paid. It has not been easy to negotiate to this level, but I believe it is the right thing to do.
“The deal is the first significant buy-out of a Bitcoin industry company and highlights the potential revenues and money that is circling around the industry.”
Satoshi blocked US players in May following what it described as “coercive threats” by government, motivating it to protect the interests of its shareholders in a proactive manner.
US authorities have taken a closer interest in Bitcoin this year, including an investigation into Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange. Officials seized Dwolla’s payments to and from the service in May for conducting “unlicensed money transmitting” .
Mt. Gox reopened its US dollar trading service on July 4 following a two-week suspension in which it made changes to its service to allow it to cater for increased demand. The company did not say if the temporary shutdown was ordered by the US government or was the result of an investigation.
