Prague is a metropolis I’ll all the time maintain near my coronary heart. Fifteen years in the past, we celebrated the launch of CalvinAyre.com in Prague with a legendary ‘Mad Max’-themed occasion (IYKYK), the second greatest occasion I’ve been to in my life (who can guess what primary is??) The launch occasion occurred throughout the first iGaming SUPER Present, which was rebranded as iGB Live! a number of years later, an occasion that’s nonetheless thriving as we speak and will likely be taking place in London this coming July.
The reminiscences I’ve related to Prague are priceless, they usually all got here flooding once I attended Hipther’s Gaming & TECH Summit in March. This occasion brings collectively professionals from the web playing house and people extra targeted on blockchain, synthetic intelligence (AI), and Fintech. The organizers purposefully cap attendance numbers to maintain a extra intimate really feel, making a networking and studying environment totally different from the bigger iGaming expos. Loads of considerate touches additionally make the occasion particular, equivalent to on-site therapeutic massage therapists, colourful vegan catering, a jazz evening and early morning yoga and operating classes.
My predominant aims on the summit have been to take part within the “Keeping the iGaming Spirit Alive” panel and reasonable the “Blockchain Revolution: Unlocking the Potential of Web3 Across Industries” and “Cross-Sector Collaboration: Lessons from Fintech, AI, Gaming, and Blockchain” panels. My secondary aims have been to get pleasure from time with iGaming mates—outdated and new—and share my perspective on the blockchain house with these .
Listed below are my prime 5 takeaways from a number of unforgettable days in Prague to offer you an concept of what went down throughout my three panels and across the convention:
Good issues are available in small packages
Larger is usually higher, nevertheless it’s not all the time the case. In a world the place posting about record-breaking numbers at conferences 12 months after 12 months is the norm, there may be nonetheless a necessity for smaller occasions. The identical goes for corporations. Take, as an illustration, the “Conserving the iGaming Spirit Alive” panel I participated in…this was an idea that was mentioned at Hipther’s European Gaming Congress a number of months again, they usually made it occur similar to that. No crimson tape, simply an on-the-spot choice. Smaller corporations can try this. This subject material additionally made sense for a smaller occasion because it targeted on a powerful sense of neighborhood, which is precisely what you get at a well-organized, intimate convention just like the Gaming & TECH Summit.
Your community is every part
Pondering of our Spirit of iGaming panel, if I may share one piece of knowledge with somebody simply beginning in iGaming, I might say, ‘It’s who you understand’ as a result of that is an business based mostly on connections. There weren’t many people again within the mid-2000s, a bonus we iGaming old-timers had as a result of it was straightforward to make new mates and connections. Attending as we speak’s iGaming conferences with record-breaking numbers of attendees might be daunting—it’s straightforward to get misplaced within the shuffle. For those who’re new to the house, I recommend beginning with the smaller, area of interest occasions such because the Gaming and TECH Summit, safe your contacts after which broaden that base at larger occasions. Work exhausting on sustaining and rising that community. It could possibly be years later when one in every of your connections opens a new door for you, just like Calvin Ayre did for me.
Regulation, regulation and extra regulation
Coping with (over) compliance in Europe was one of many hottest matters on the summit, with nearly each panel— together with all three of mine—bearing on regulatory compliance not directly. Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, AI Act, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the record goes on. Overregulation stifles innovation—we all know this from our iGaming historical past—so we should do our half to teach regulators on frontier tech, equivalent to AI and blockchain, so that they perceive the way it may help our business, not damage it. Within the meantime, it’s necessary to work inside the laws as greatest we will, or you’ll be able to take a look at your luck in gray markets, nevertheless it’s probably regulation will finally make its method to these markets, too.
AI is old-fashioned, however barrier to entry has plummeted
One other sizzling matter was synthetic intelligence (AI), AI and extra AI. A lot AI!!!
Whereas AI has been round for a very long time—even inside the iGaming business—at this second, the tech is accelerating exponentially, and the barrier to entry has been lowered massively. Extensive entry to AI means implementing reporting and superior analytics is extra inexpensive for operators. Due to AI agents, two specialists can do the job of 5 knowledge engineers, permitting corporations to reallocate funds the place they’re wanted most. It’s thrilling occasions in AI with a lot extra to return, however educate your self on how the tech may help what you are promoting versus simply specializing in the hype.
Blockchain past funds!
The iGaming business nonetheless makes use of PSPs for processing digital currencies (aka crypto)—why aren’t we using Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer fee performance, as said within the whitepaper? Why contain all these middlemen? How is that this totally different from conventional fee strategies? I don’t have the reply right here, however the objective of paying with digital currencies is defeated once we use PSPs within the center. Maybe it’s higher to think about using blockchain tech past simply getting money out and in, letting it run within the background to ensure belief with RNGs, utilizing it for knowledge transparency to ensure compliance, utilizing sensible contracts to pay out suppliers, associates and gamers immediately, or at the very least think about a stablecoin like MNEE to simplify funds. Even when blockchain-powered casinos failed previously, let’s strive once more with a protocol that works, equivalent to BSV, a public blockchain with low charges that’s dependable and massively scales.
Watch Malta Gaming Authority: Blockchain regulation within the playing house
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