> Moreover, since the funds are held in escrow by the network and not by a specific person or group, your funds can't be stolen or seized by anyone.
But who adjudicates the event outcomes? In other words, who is the administrator that chooses the winning side of a bet when the event is over?
> XBet.IO uses a one of a kind intervention mechanism to ensure that only verified results are broadcasted to settle bets. After every match, the results are displayed for the users to review and file an appeal if they think the result is wrong. If a bet is reported, it would be manually verified by an admin before settling the bet.
And who are the admins? An admin could steal all the funds placed on a winning bet by simply placing a small bet on the losing outcome, then settling the bet on that wrong outcome (and denying the appeal).
Instead of the service administrator determining who wins or not it should be a number of named and trusted outsiders who would make this decision.
Take 10 reputable sports journalists/well known figures. Pay them part of the 1% profit. In exchange for the money they would agree to provide a proof of the result (signed with their key). Craft the transactions so that for example 4 out of 10 confirmations are needed for the transaction to go through.
Pointless to do for short events with small bets. You just kill the golden goose. Why not just a biz and accumulate ongoing revenue? Anyways, deposit risk is low. Sports games last just a few hours.
I use the betfair 'betting exchange' API +crude algos to place bets on the final results of soccer leagues. My main risk, I think, is betfair going bust with all my capital locked into season-long bets (I make many small bets on unrelated markets).
They charge 5% commission on net profits for a given event (would be reduced to 3% if I had very large volume). They are floated on the stock market, have a decent market cap and I think my funds are likely safe with them. That 5% is a lot, and really reduces my profit, BUT at least I am fairly sure my capital is safe. (Unlike e.g. intrade [0] who I really wanted to use (big arbs on US presidential election vs betfair) but did not trust (rightly so, as it turned out)).
The other positive thing is the market depth - many punters use betfair. This is self-reinforcing - people don't use eg betdaq because people don't use betdaq, even though their commission is currently 3%.
Another thing: I am happy having my capital tied up in bets because inflation and interest rates are low. That is not true of bitcoin. For bets on a given match, made and settled the same day, this might not be a big issue, but for longer-term bets ...
I'm interested to see how xbet does, good luck to them.
Oh, I didn't know betfair had an API, that's interesting. Do you know if there exists an open source implementation for any languages, or do you roll your own?
A good reason there is a lot of work being done to separate the two offerings from each other. I'm supporting all sorts of features, but to pay, you gotta send Bitcoin with a client - not my site. Safest that way. Also, see Counterparty.
Edit: From the site in question: "Nowhere do we store or request any personal information." https://xbet.io/why_use_xbet
Another thing: It's not a forgone conclusion that Bitcoin technologies will get better over time, but there is a large amount of pressure to make that a reality. People like their money, above all.
[+] [-] kylebrown|11 years ago|reply
But who adjudicates the event outcomes? In other words, who is the administrator that chooses the winning side of a bet when the event is over?
> XBet.IO uses a one of a kind intervention mechanism to ensure that only verified results are broadcasted to settle bets. After every match, the results are displayed for the users to review and file an appeal if they think the result is wrong. If a bet is reported, it would be manually verified by an admin before settling the bet.
And who are the admins? An admin could steal all the funds placed on a winning bet by simply placing a small bet on the losing outcome, then settling the bet on that wrong outcome (and denying the appeal).
[+] [-] jpalomaki|11 years ago|reply
Take 10 reputable sports journalists/well known figures. Pay them part of the 1% profit. In exchange for the money they would agree to provide a proof of the result (signed with their key). Craft the transactions so that for example 4 out of 10 confirmations are needed for the transaction to go through.
[+] [-] blazespin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bainsfather|11 years ago|reply
They charge 5% commission on net profits for a given event (would be reduced to 3% if I had very large volume). They are floated on the stock market, have a decent market cap and I think my funds are likely safe with them. That 5% is a lot, and really reduces my profit, BUT at least I am fairly sure my capital is safe. (Unlike e.g. intrade [0] who I really wanted to use (big arbs on US presidential election vs betfair) but did not trust (rightly so, as it turned out)).
The other positive thing is the market depth - many punters use betfair. This is self-reinforcing - people don't use eg betdaq because people don't use betdaq, even though their commission is currently 3%.
Another thing: I am happy having my capital tied up in bets because inflation and interest rates are low. That is not true of bitcoin. For bets on a given match, made and settled the same day, this might not be a big issue, but for longer-term bets ...
I'm interested to see how xbet does, good luck to them.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrade
[+] [-] hucker|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blazespin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wwwwwwwwww|11 years ago|reply
also there's no httponly flag on the session cookie
gotta love bitcoin sites
[+] [-] kordless|11 years ago|reply
A good reason there is a lot of work being done to separate the two offerings from each other. I'm supporting all sorts of features, but to pay, you gotta send Bitcoin with a client - not my site. Safest that way. Also, see Counterparty.
Edit: From the site in question: "Nowhere do we store or request any personal information." https://xbet.io/why_use_xbet
Another thing: It's not a forgone conclusion that Bitcoin technologies will get better over time, but there is a large amount of pressure to make that a reality. People like their money, above all.
[+] [-] stop_sending|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kristianp|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wcummings|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] goeric|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CaveTech|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] globalpanic|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dagw|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kolev|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] laichzeit0|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sp332|11 years ago|reply