As the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to climb following Donald Trump’s election, a new crypto casino and sportsbook is looking to cash in.
Led by FanDuel co-founders Nigel Eccles and Rob Jones, BetHog announced plans for a public launch on Tuesday with a reported $6 million in seed funding, a statement from the organization revealed.
“The crypto casino market has seen dramatic growth over the past few years driven by innovations like provably fair games, robust VIP programs and streaming,” Eccles, co-founder and CEO of BetHog said.
“With BetHog, my goal is to innovate even further by bringing unique and highly visual games to market. I want to offer users unique play-along and skill-based titles, combined with a robust VIP offering, but most of all, this is about maximizing fun for our users!”
BetHog casino is set to be built on Solana, with plans to accept bitcoin and Etherium, among other crypto currencies.
“We think they are perfectly positioned to unlock this massive opportunity to build the most innovative online casino and betting platform of this era of crypto,” said 6MV general partner Serge Kassardjian, the crypto based venture capitalist firm spearheading the effort.
“We believe this will bring in a diverse audience of crypto and non-crypto gamers to enjoy this differentiated and fun gambling experience.”
In the meantime, there is an expectation that regulatory hurdles will need to be cleared, a report from Forbes outlined following the news. BetHog will reportedly not accept wagers from the U.S., Ontario, or the majority of Western Europe, though plans are being laid for expansion and regulation in each location, Eccles told the publication.
Bitcoin surging post-Trump election
With the re-election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, cryptocurrencies have seen a major surge in price over the past week, with bitcoin reaching all-time highs of near $88,000 USD, up 25% since Trump's victory.
Trump and his team’s relatively favorable outlook on crypto as a whole has had investors particularly intrigued, while sports and the blockchain have only further become entwined in recent years.
Professional leagues in particular have been among those at the forefront, with NBA Top Shot and NHL Breakaway among the officially licensed blockchain efforts found within the sports sphere.
“We’re all just waiting and hoping for some good news that this thing that we deeply believe in will be validated and supported and invested in, literally and figuratively,” Packrip Ewing (an online pseudonym), a longtime NFT collector, told Sportico.
