Lyle Wraxall, CEO of Digital Isle of Man, says the use of blockchain in online gaming is on the rise, although he has warned against the "hype" surrounding the technology.

Digital Isle of Man, responsible for the digital economy on the island including online gaming, esports and blockchain, opened its own blockchain office in early 2019.

The office was established to guide and facilitate businesses, including a number in online gaming, through regulatory practices.

But CEO Wraxall admits blockchain, the record-keeping technology behind crypto-currencies, still has pitfalls, despite advancing innovation in online game.

Wraxall told Gambling Insider: "I think there’s so much hype around blockchain especially on the global level. I’m certainly not a blockchain evangelist. While there are cases where blockchain can be a really good technology to use, there are more cases where it’s terrible to use and being used for the wrong reasons.

"They are very different than what I thought they would be, and we’re seeing much more blockchain enabled in online gaming than I expected. That allows for a bit more business innovation, and we’ve got really interesting case studies of blockchain enabled in online gaming and you see that on the rise.

"When launching the blockchain office, the intention was not a sole focus on blockchain in the online gaming sector and we've been surprised to see as much blockchain-enabled gaming as we have. We’re now seeing flawless synergies between blockchain, online gaming and esports."

Digital Isle of Man will be elaborating on how blockchain and online gaming work together at ICE London in early February, and you can check out an in-depth Q & A preview in this week’s GI Friday.