EXPERT: E-CURRENCY A MEANS TO DAM AND TRACE GAMBLING OUTFLOW IN MACAU

Beijing is using digital currency to close the “black hole” that local casinos have dug over the past two decades, said Ben Lee, managing partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting, at a business event.

Lee gave a talk on the topic at yesterday’s breakfast briefing hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in Macao (BritCham).

Experientially, the city’s gross gambling revenue (GGR) peaked in 2013 at USD45 billion. Lee stressed that this was the amount received by local casinos, not the actual amount of cash that gamblers had brought into Macau.

Statistically, the GGR is about 20% of total money flow into Macau. From the 2013 GGR figure, it can be calculated that about USD225 billion cash flowed into Macau that year. Lee also discussed side-betting or under-the-table betting, which accounted for between double to 50 times the GGR in 2013 and 2014. Altogether, casinos in Macau has generated a USD600 billion “black hole,” which upset Beijing.

Source: https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/gaming-expert-e-currency-a-means-to-dam-and-trace-gambling-outflow-in-macau.html