In the past decade, the world economy has seen some ups and downs. With the financial crisis of 2008, people lost their jobs and houses, and entire countries went bankrupt.
However, as in previous lean times, the gambling industry weathered through relatively unscathed. Indeed, gambling is generally considered to be a “recession-proof” industry, as casinos tend not hurt as much as other businesses—and with online casinos performing still better than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
It makes sense — if you’re living on a budget and have $10 to spend on entertainment for the week, what would you rather spend it on? The latest blockbuster movie? A glass of wine? Or the chance to win $100?
Nowadays, with the economy back on its feet and online casinos a booming business, online gambling raked in a cool $40 billion in gross gambling yield in 2013, with an estimated yearly growth rate of 4.4%. Online sports gambling accounted for $19.3 billion of that figure, and with the prevalence of internet and mobile devices, it’s only set to expand.
Problems With Current Sportsbooks
Despite how well it’s doing, the casino business is an industry fraught with problems. While allowed to engage in mainstream marketing under United States regulations, to stay on the right side of the law, sportsbooks have to purchase expensive licenses in every jurisdiction they plan to function in.
When it comes to sportsbooks in particular, they’re legally required to have a high amount of initial capital to support user bets. This benchmark amount is 1 million.
In an attempt to make that money back, they often charge users high fees and engage in unethical practices to make a profit on the high initial capital outlay. Sportsbooks tend to charge anything from 10–15% on their bets, while other casinos engage in even less savory tactics, such as operating outside of the law and even not paying bettors their winnings.
And even if traditional casinos and sportsbooks behave honestly, bettors can experience long wait times and other typical problems when a service is run through a third party. They run the risk of having their identities and data hacked due to security breaches, and they could even lose their funds completely in the way of a regulations crackdown.
MEVU and the Blockchain
MEVU is a disruptive new take on online sportsbooks, set to tackle all of these problems.
This decentralized P2P betting platform uses smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to match players who agree to certain odds with each other. All bets are placed in ETH and kept in a publicly viewable escrow, making all funds accountable for in every step of the betting process.
While actual bets are made in Ethereum, the MEVU platform is run on a local cryptocurrency, MVU. People who hold MVU tokens, acquired from the token sale, can act as oracles, overseeing bets made in the community.
Oracles report game results and resolve disputes between bettors, receiving ETH as an incentive. Once a result is determined, ETH funds are pushed out of the escrow automatically, with no lag time between results and bettors receiving their winnings.
By cutting out banks and other middleman, MEVU does away with the necessity of high fees (MEVU only charges players a small fee of 2%) and brings a fun, social nature back to online betting.
Not only can bettors rest assured that their funds won’t vanish, thanks to the trustless and transparent nature of the blockchain, but MEVU also provides them a chance to come up with their own bets and odds, and meet and engage with people who have similar interests.
Different Types of Bets Offered on MEVU
Sports
MEVU is predominantly a platform for placing bets on sporting events, and they will follow most internationally known major leagues, including NBA, FIFA, NFL, UFC, both Summer and Winter Olympics, and more.
ESports
MEVU has also branched into the esports field, with the opportunity to bet on virtual competitions in football, baseball, tennis, soccer, boxing, and more. They have partnered their blockchain tech with existing esports wagering sites and organizations to deliver users a better experience.
Social
MEVU will also offer custom and social bets on any event that has 2 outcomes. Once the bet is completed, a 1.5% fee is charged, 1% of which goes to MEVU, and the remaining 0.5% to a monthly lottery that goes to a random holder of the MVU token.
In the case of disputes, the ETH wagered will be returned to both parties, minus a small “gas” fee. Users’ dispute percentages will then be recorded, along with their reputations in the MEVU community, to advise future bettors whether they are a trustworthy person to enter into a wager with.
Multi
Multi bets, in which multiple people contribute to a pool of winnings, will also be offered. These will be settled by a neutral oracle, and bettors will have the option to make their wagers using MEVU’s local MVU token. The fee for multi bets is 0.5%, 0.45% of which will be burned to keep the cost of the MVU token down, thus incentivizing users to hold on to their MVU tokens.
Casino Games
Finally, MEVU users will have the option to stake MVU tokens against each other in casino-style games like blackjack, roulette, slots, dice, and even games of chance as basic as rock-paper-scissors. These direct bettor-against-bettor wagers will incur a 0.2% fee, 0.15% of which will be burned.
The MVU Token
Initially, the MVU token will only be used as a utility token, to determine oracles and fuel the platform.
However, as demand for MVU increases and supply decreases through systematic burning of the tokens (as seen above), the value of MVU will proportionally increase. Gradually, MEVU will add the capability to use MVU as well as ETH when placing pooled bets.
Here are the 3 primary uses of the MVU token:
Reporting Game Results
Verification of game results is set up in a decentralized system to cut out any risk of fraud. MVU holders who act as oracles stake some of their tokens, and collect service fees in ETH.
As a pool of oracles come to consensus over a game result, dissenting oracles will have half of their staked MVU taken away and split proportionally between those oracles who reached consensus. This is meant to deter fraud.
Competing in Games and Lottery
Holders of the MVU token will also be able to use MVU to bet in casino-style games exclusive to MEVU. Bettors who place their bets in MVU rather than ETH will be able to do so for a discounted fee, thus encouraging use of the MVU token and driving up demand. All fees are then put towards the monthly lottery, which all MVU holders are automatically enrolled in.
Referral Rewards
Holders of MVU who invite friends to join the MEVU community receive MVU tokens as a reward. A percentage of funds from the token sale will go towards a referral fund, which will go to both referrers and their friends as soon as the friend competes in their first bet. The reward will be the equivalent of US$5, to be updated monthly according to MVU’s value.
The Changing Face of Online Gambling
As gambling becomes more socially accepted, especially among younger generations who make up the bulk of the online gambling industry, it follows that online casinos will shift their models to incorporate fair and honest practices. Using blockchain technology is a clear method of fueling this evolution, and MEVU intends to be at the forefront of this industry disruption.
MEVU’s private token presale is currently underway, and will wrap up on July 16, 2018 or when 15 million MVU tokens are sold. Their public sale will then start on September 10, and last until October 22. There’s plenty of time to get in on the action, although online casinos are a hot industry and tokens will likely be snapped up quickly.
For a deep dive into the MEVU model and vision, check out their whitepaper. To keep up to date on their token sale, timeline, and other events, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.
Related: 24 Industries That Blockchain Will Radically Transform
