In his first interview since becoming President at CashBet, Ed Brennan speaks exclusively to Gambling Insider and predicts a future powered by crypto-currencies. 

You took up the role of President in September. How would you assess your time in the role so far?

It has been busy – and in a very good way. We have lots of great products and services we are starting to launch on behalf of our partners. Next year is going to be an exciting year for CashBet. We have an entire crypto-based online gaming ecosystem of products and services, and plenty of plans to deploy them.

Why do you think there is a hesitancy to incorporate crypto-currencies at a widespread level? 

The problem with crypto-currency is that it is designed by engineers - not business-people. That’s good, because it offers fantastic benefits that fiat (traditional currency) simply cannot compete with. However, the drawback is that because it is designed so well, it is also complicated, and therefore difficult to integrate into existing business streams.

Once we make it as easy to use as fiat, integrate it and bring it onboard into existing business models, adoption will happen incredibly fast.

How does gaming’s involvement with crypto compare with other industries?

In my view, this is only just the beginning. The younger, tech-savvy generation will continue to drive the adoption and demand for a gaming crypto-currency that clearly offers numerous benefits over fiat; it's inherently anti-inflationary by nature, frictionless and seamless in its transaction times, and the capacity to offer near-instantaneous withdrawals. In 2013, 50% of all bitcoin transactions already involved gambling, and since 2014 more than 3.7 million BTC, valued at $26bn, have been used on betting platforms. 

The Malta Gaming Authority has its Sandbox Framework in place for the use of distributed ledger technologies. Is there any other country close to this stage? What holds others back from developing their own framework?

I have full confidence Malta will blaze a trail for others to follow in Europe, but over here in the States where I live in Silicon Valley, the amount of effort building out solutions for nearly every industry is already massively underway. Japan is also pushing adoption hard – so watch that space.

What are the misconceptions about crypto-currency?

People largely still don’t know what it is, how it works and why it is way better than fiat. Once they use crypto in a transaction and it is as easy as fiat, game over. Crypto will win in the long run, no question. Digital currency is the future.

Some companies develop their own tokens. What is the benefit in doing so?

While bitcoin has entered the mainstream consciousness as the poster child for a wider crypto movement, it is not particularly well-suited as a gambling chip. Creating our own token gives partners a customised offering that allows them to do many innovative things with their products and services.