Author: Raluca

  • Top 5 Cryptocurrencies To Consider For The Future In The Long Term [In Collaboration]

    Top 5 Cryptocurrencies To Consider For The Future In The Long Term [In Collaboration]

    In the era of this pandemic, survival is getting way difficult than it was a few months back. Investment opportunities have declined drastically. Investors are in deep trouble and are looking for something safer and secure. There has been a major makeshift in thinking towards knocking the doors of other investment platforms. 

    Cryptocurrencies have been a major part of the discussion where one can look to invest in. You surely would be lurking around again if you don’t take action before the next pandemic hits the global economy. Let’s look at the top 5 cryptocurrencies you can look to invest in:

    Bitcoin (BTC):

    This is one of the most famous cryptocurrencies in the world. Right now bitcoin has the most fan following in cryptocurrencies. The growth of bitcoin has never stopped. This is one of the main reasons why this cryptocurrency has attracted investors from all over the world.

    Now as the world is suffering through coronavirus it has been stated that bitcoin will be touching its peak at this time. This has also been stated by the most famous crypto trader Teeka Tiwari. In his Teeka Tiwari crypto recommendations, it is stated that bitcoin will be touching $100k by the end of this year. 

    Litecoin (LTC):

    This is also one of the famous cryptocurrency which you cannot neglect at this time. This comes at an affordable price along with high-speed transactions. This cryptocurrency has huge growth opportunities for its users. Each unit if Litecoin is bellowed $100 due to which a wide number of investors are attracted to it.

    With time this cryptocurrency is also growing. They have recently announced that they are going to partner themselves with the ATMs in South Korea through MeconCash. This news is bringing clients from all over the world.

    Ethereum (ETH):

    This cryptocurrency has a very positive impact on its client. Investors from all over the world have more trust in Ethereum than Bitcoin.  This is completely understood that this cryptocurrency growth is solely based on the number of decentralized applications. In terms of pricing and profit this cannot match bitcoin but still, this is a very good and safe investment to do at this time.

    Ripple (XRP):

    This cryptocurrency has never failed our expectations. You can say this as the most reliable cryptocurrency amongst others. This cryptocurrency has made huge advancements in the field of banking and finances. 

    Money Gram is one of the famous examples. This company has got a new boost up after introducing this cryptocurrency in their network. They have taken further steps just to strengthen their relationship with Ripple. As ripple has given huge bonuses to them.

    There are numerous companies that are using Ripples services. This is also predicted that in this year more companies will be added in its network. With the addition, the prices of this cryptocurrency will automatically go up giving profits to its clients.

    Zcash (ZEC):

    This is one of the most secure and private cryptocurrency available. This is mainly for the clients who want complete privacy for their investments. The rest of all the properties of Zcash is the same the only thing which separates this from the market is its security.

    They encourage head to head transactions which I believe is one of the most secure ways to make a transaction. It is predicted that with the growth of Bitcoin Zcash will also be following its footsteps and will be growing with it.

     

  • Africa and South America Leading in Bitcoin Search Interest

    Africa and South America Leading in Bitcoin Search Interest

    A study by blockchaincenter.net shows that South America and Africa have the highest Bitcoin (BT) search interest in the world.

    A study has been conducted by blockchaincenter.net using a powerful tool Google Trends, to see which countries are peaking the search interest in Bitcoin.  Google Trends shows how often a specific term is entered into the Google search engine in relation to the total amount of searches over a time period. It has been concluded that out of the top 10 countries 4 are located in South America and 3 in Africa.

    The research shows that every cryptocurrency search in Africa and South America is connected to bitcoin. These may range anywhere from Bitcoin (BT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), IOTA, XRP, to Litecoin (LTC), IOTA, or even Tron (TRX). Specifically, in Africa, Kenya is leading the race with 94.7% of all searches including bitcoin one way or another with the close followup of Nigeria and South Africa peaking at 89.4% and 89% respectively. On the other side of the earth, we have South America with Brazil sitting at 92.6% in the bitcoin search interest index, with both Chile and Ecuador roughly around 89%.

    This may be in connection with the volatility of bitcoin. With the latest protests in the United States of America with people coming out against police brutality and systematic racism after the death of George Floyd, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has issued a statement regarding moving the national guard into states overtaken by the riots. This has shifted the price of bitcoin to hit the highest during the last couple of years of $10,500. This means that some trading order types have become more popular due to the overall unstable nature of the market. For example, stop-loss orders are one of the most prevalent in conjunction with the political spectrum of 2020. Lots of countries are in disarray due to the novel coronavirus pandemic with Chinese investors buying up European and American stocks. This has caused less knowledgeable users to become a bit panicky and thus start googling different information about Bitcoin and what to do with their investments. The overall agreement in the market is to not rely too heavily on bitcoin at this moment due to a multitude of outside factors influencing the whole trade making it extremely hard to predict the price change. 

    One way or another the result is the same – overall increase of the interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in regions that have fewer regulations in comparison to more developed parts of the world where the cryptocurrency adoption is happening at a higher and more chaotic level than everywhere else. The overall flexibility of economics in African and South American countries creates a perfect atmosphere for such developments. 

    Africa and Cryptocurrencies

    African countries are becoming key players in the development of the cryptocurrency markets in the whole world. Google trends is a beautiful indicator of this pattern. The speaker of the House of Representatives in Nigeria has even called for a legal framework to be developed back in July 2019. The government has thus shifted its interest towards the cryptocurrencies to make sure that their popularity in the unregulated markets results in as much gain for the population and the nation as a whole as possible. The logic behind government interest is simple – with the countries struggling to bank money and achieve stability during coronavirus pandemic the cryptocurrency market can be a bubble of air the economies desperately need. When a Nigerian person starts trading and accumulating money, he or she starts spending it in the country where they live. This means that the funds gained from trading can directly benefit the nation’s economy by creating an inflow of money from outside the country. The best part, however, is still the fact that there is no need to develop any specific infrastructure since all that is required to start trading is to have an active internet connection. South Africa, for example, has been a leading country on the whole continent with its high rate of internet penetration. If anything in the 21st century the internet penetration is already under demand, hence, it is a governmental project which will have a huge positive impact. Internet World Stat has been tracking the penetration levels, which have been increasing rapidly since 2011.

    South Africa owns 13% of cryptocurrency on the whole continent of Africa. This number, while it doesn’t seem like it, is actually a considerable amount considering it’s the highest in the region. In April 2020 the Financial Services Board, which is a South African financial regulatory agency has issued a document highlighting the fact that crypto-assets and activities “can no longer remain outside of the regulatory perimeter.”

    South America and Bitcoin

    South America in general is holding a big interest in the bitcoin market with Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador leading the race on the continent. Argentina is also quite keen on the BT with its 87.7% search interest on Google Trends. The peer-to-peer trading has reached all-time highs in all of the countries mentioned above. 

    Bitcoin is becoming prevalent though. In Venezuela, cryptocurrencies have become a go-to for a lot of people due to local currency becoming effectively worthless. President Maduro and his government have been pushing their own centralized “cryptocurrency” Petro, however, it goes against everything the cryptos stand for and thus has faced loads of backlash from people stating that it’s basically a new way for the authoritarian regime to control more things in the country.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, the bitcoin can certainly be used to provide some kind of relief for the economies in the COVID-19 infested world. The economies are struggling all over the world due to the interconnectedness of the world trade. When the pandemic started to spread all of the borders were closed down restricting import as well as export but most of all, tourism which is an extremely profitable business for lots of different countries all across the globe. In addition to that, the oil prices have dropped due to the fact that lockdown was issued in multiple countries with the addition of the airline industry being completely grounded. This has caused oil prices to drop damaging already struggling economies like Venezuela. 

  • The pros and cons of gambling with bitcoin and what you should look out for when choosing a crypto casino [In Collaboration]

    The pros and cons of gambling with bitcoin and what you should look out for when choosing a crypto casino [In Collaboration]

    Bitcoin and other forms of blockchain are a hugely popular method of payment when it comes down to online casinos and there has been a significant increase in their usage over the last few years.

    With players having decided to turn away from the traditional methods of cold-cash by means of credit/debit cards, bank transfers and e-wallets like PayPal, knowing the most about cryptocurrency is vital and it is extremely important to understand all the benefits and negatives they pose those that decide to use them.

    Advantages of using Bitcoin

    At the end of the day, gameplay will not be affected by the type of currency used. However, there are some rather strong reasons as to why using Bitcoins can have its advantages when playing online casino games.

    One major advantage that springs to mind immediately is that the payment method is decentralized. As the player, you are the only person who knows what is available to you as it is not regulated as funds in a bank are, for example. Users will be able to make the transactions that they want to make without facing any possible resistance and are free to do what they wish.

    The speed in which transactions are made with blockchain currencies tend to be quicker than those being done by means of the traditional bank transfers. This works for both depositing and withdrawing funds, and can usually be processed within 10 minutes.

    One of the biggest advantages that are to come out of the use of Bitcoin technologies is that it offers users plenty of anonymity and confidentiality. Each transaction that is made via this method passes through a unique route that makes it extremely difficult to track and, even if it has been, it is impossible to link it to one particular player.

    There is also an element of fairness involved when using blockchain technologies. Each user is able to check if the outcome of the game was made through the use of random numbers, or whether it was tampered as they can get instant verification on each wager they place by entering a bet ID number and some other details. This ensures that there is fairness and that gives users the satisfaction there is no dodgy shenanigans happening behind the scenes. The fact that a Bitcoin casino uses blockchain will also help to improve their own reputation, therefore providing a win-win scenario.

    Although online casinos will always strive to offer players with a vast number of different payment methods, not all are universally accepted across the board, which can make depositing/withdrawing funds a little more difficult than it has to be. However, Bitcoin does not have any boundaries and can be used everywhere in the world.

    Commissions can be the bain of our lives when trying to take our winnings from the bankroll, however Bitcoin transactions all have the same size of commission regardless of the amounts being withdrawn, making this an appealing factor for those who do not want to be hit with a large percentage cut after withdrawing a significant sum of money.

    There are no legal restrictions on Bitcoin as well as the currency is not considered ‘real money’ in certain countries, meaning players will not have to pay taxes on their winnings and keep the vast majority of it.

    Other legal issues that can be faced when using normal methods of payment are in countries that have outlawed gambling or place strict rules on online casinos. By using Bitcoin currency, these transactions can by-pass the likes of financial institutions and allow players to get their fix, without any legal consequences. 

    Disadvantages of using Bitcoin

    Of course, whilst there are many advantages that make the possibility of using blockchain technologies an attractive option moving forward, however it does not also come without its negatives, either.

    Perhaps one of the well-known problems that are associated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is the volatility that the currency has within the trading markets. Confidence is a hugely important factor with those involved in the stock markets and if there is not any, then things can become rather serious.

    Fluctuations can happen at any time, with each day hardly providing any real stability. For example, on 17 December 2017: Bitcoin’s price briefly reached its all-time high of $19,783.06. However, just one week later, on 22 December 2017: Bitcoin fell below $11,000, a fall of 45% from its peak.

    Of course, there is also a flip side to this, as if the exchange rate is at a favourable rate, then their possible winnings could be a lot more than they originally thought they might be.

    Although the fact that there are no legal restrictions on Bitcoin as the currency is not considered ‘real money’ in some places, it still remains a grey area for many. Some countries have completely banned it, whilst others have unclear rules and regulations.

    There is no responsibility attached to it, which makes it difficult to solve any problems that may arise by using it. Transactions can not be voided if incorrect, nor can requests be made to return money when made in error. Therefore, a clear understanding must be had before using it.

    Although an advantage is that the withdrawal process for Bitcoin can be instant compared to other popular methods, there is still the possibility that they can take longer because of the security processes attached to them.

    Conclusion

    Of course, when weighing up the benefits and disadvantages of Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies that are available, there are a number of interesting things that certainly need to be accounted for.

    It would be fair to say that it is completely possible in the future that some of the advantages start to disappear, for example, the legal restrictions as there have already been moves by certain countries to try and prohibit its use, or at least, try and restrict it as much as possible.

    One thing that must always be at the forefront of a user’s mind is the high volatility the currency has, with it’s exchange rates far from stable and extremely dangerous at times, whilst users must know exactly what they are doing with it, otherwise it could be a costly mistake.

  • Writing an Essay on Cryptocurrency: 5 Key Points [Sponsored]

    Writing an Essay on Cryptocurrency: 5 Key Points [Sponsored]

    Today, the world is on the verge of a digital revolution that will affect all areas of public life. Cryptocurrencies are one of the most relevant topics when it comes to the digitalization of the economy. Many students choose cryptocurrency as a topic for writing an essay. However, even if you have decided on a topic, this does not mean that it will be easy to transfer it to paper. A site where you can buy essays for college can help you with this. In this article, in turn, you can find 5 important points in writing an essay about cryptocurrency.

    1. Compose Your Ideas Using a Diagram or Outline

    Some understudies get terrified to begin composing. They need to ensure they have every one of their musings sorted out in their mind before they put anything down in writing. Making a chart or blueprint permits you to put pen to paper and begin arranging your thoughts. Try not to stress or struggle with the organization now, simply make a moderately composed format for your data.

    Whether you utilize a graph or plan doesn’t generally make a difference. A few people like and work better with the streaming structure of a graph. Others like the inflexible and coherent structure of a layout. Try not to worry, when you begin, you can generally change groups if the plan you picked isn’t working out for you.

    1. Build up a Thesis Statement

    When you have a thought for the essential structure of your exposition, and what data you’re going to introduce in your paper, it’s an ideal opportunity to build up your thesis statement. A thesis statement states or lays out what you expect to demonstrate in your article. A decent thesis statement ought to be clear, compact, explicit, and takes a position.

    It is necessary to focus on a narrower topic, for example, to discuss the phenomenon of mining. You can say that mining is important for understanding the cryptocurrency phenomenon – the activity of maintaining a distributed platform and creating new blocks with the ability to receive rewards in the form of issued currency and/or commission fees. Miners make calculations for transactions by cryptographic encryption of new blocks, and the reward encourages people to spend their computing power and thereby support the operation of networks.

    Further, you can discuss the pros and cons of mining and summarize this in conclusion.

    1. Write a Background

    You can start with the background and write about cryptocurrency in general. It will be advisable to include information that against the background of crisis processes and the loss of confidence in traditional economic institutions, interest in cryptocurrencies is growing. This topic is especially popular today among the scientific community and the general public. Sometimes they even see “digital gold” as the latest stage of the digital evolution of money, a model of a “virtual” economy in miniature. A large amount of literature is published on the topic of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, however, most of it is not directly scientific in nature and is published in the public domain in the form of essays or quasi-scientific notes by representatives of the digital elite – DJI. In this example, we can trace the change in the production of scientific knowledge in areas related to new digital technologies of the 21st century.

    1. Create a Body

    The body of your article is the place you clarify, depict, or contend the theme you’ve picked. Every one of the fundamental thoughts you remembered for your blueprint or chart will take place in the body passages. On the off chance that you recorded four principle thoughts in your layout or outline, at that point you’ll have four body passages.

    Here you can write about the fact that the mining mechanism allows you to avoid inflation: the creators of cryptocurrencies can limit the speed of creating new blocks (i.e. the frequency of emission), as well as the reward for their creation (i.e. the volume of emission). For example, a Bitcoin blockchain is formed every 10 minutes. We can also mention that cryptocurrencies exploit the ideas of rapid enrichment, globalization up to anti-statehood, the dominance of mathematics, and the free flow of capital.

    1. Write a Conclusion

    The last section of the paper gives the conclusion. This section ought to ought to rehash your thesis statement utilizing slightly different wording in comparison to the one utilized in your intro. The section ought to sum up the contentions introduced in the body of the article. The last sentence in the end section ought to convey that your paper has reached and a general conclusion. Your finishing up passage ought to convey to the reader that you’re certain that you’ve demonstrated the thought as set in your thesis statement.

    Here you can write that cryptocurrencies today are at the center of the topic of digitalization of the economy. However, digitalization is not a panacea; any reforms can serve both for the good and the detriment of the country’s economy and interests. The introduction of new technologies does not remove the need for strategic planning for the development of the economy, ensuring the sustainable and proportional development of all its sectors and increasing the welfare of citizens.

    Summing up

    Being able to compose powerful papers will turn out to be progressively significant as you progress through college years. If you’ll internalize the organization of the essay introduced above, you’ll build up the capacity to compose clear and convincing expositions and will have good grades.

  • How UK are working with compulsive gambling [In Collaboration]

    How UK are working with compulsive gambling [In Collaboration]

    While gambling can be fun for many players, it can be a source of harm to others. The issue of gambling addiction is a major concern, and several agencies have come up with different methods that can help reduce its negative effects. Compulsive gambling is considered a disorder and there are ways to help people in need.

    Self-exclusion is a process of excluding oneself from gambling for a particular duration of time. When you request self-exclusion from an operator, you’ll not be allowed to access that operator’s services until the time you set elapses. As a UK player, there are several ways you can exclude yourself from betting such as using the Gamstop platform. We will discuss a range of self-exclusion options in this article.

    How do you exclude from gambling sites?

    To self-exclude yourself from gambling at a physical casino, arcade or betting shop, you will need to visit the actual venue of the operator. You will have to take some passport-style photographs with you, which you will append to the self-exclusion request form. 

    However, if it is an online gambling site, you may need to chat with a representative of the casino about your desire to self-exclude. Some casinos offer a self-exclusion option in the player account settings. Services such as Gamban can be run as an app that can help players block the devices which they use to gamble online.

    Gamestop works – but watch out for non Gamestop casinos

    Gamcheck is a directory that lists all UK-licensed casinos. While it does not offer self-exclusion services, it makes it easy for players to find UK casinos and apply for self-exclusion. However, Gamstop is a non-profit service that allows players to exclude themselves from gambling based on their identity. 

    The good thing about the service is that players can exclude themselves from all UK licensed gambling sites at once. This will save them the stress of going to each gambling site to apply for self-exclusion. When using Gamstop, you can self-exclude for 3 to 60 months, and it takes 24 hours for self-exclusion to become active once you register for it.

    As mentioned, this is only applicable for casinos in the UK, which means there are non Gamestop casinos available in the UK. This is gambling sites operating on other type of licenses, other than the UKGC-license.

    Alternatives to Gamestop

    While some self-exclusion services work based on user identity, others work based on the device used. Gamban falls in the latter category, and it is a service that can be installed on your Windows, Android and iOS devices. Once you apply for self-exclusion, the app will block any attempt you make to access a UK-licensed casino. The good thing about the service is that you can use a single account for multiple devices. Another service similar to Gamban is Netnanny. However, it is a general blocking software that allows you to block different services such as gambling, pornography and drug-related content. It also comes with a parental control feature.


    There are several other self-exclusion services besides those mentioned in the previous paragraphs. However, the way they all work is similar. There are some banks, such as Starling and Monzo, that even allow players to block transactions from their account onto a gambling site. Another thing you can do is to add the address of the casino or casinos to a filter/blocking software. 

    While using Gamstop is free, you will be required to pay a monthly or annual subscription if you are using services such as Gamban and Netnanny. To block casinos not on Gamstop, you will have to visit the casino and apply for self-exclusion manually.

    How to get bullet-proof on gambling sites

    Throughout this article, we have briefly touched upon how you can self-exclude and the different platforms available for you to use. With self-exclusion, you can gradually reduce your addiction to gambling. 

    However, you should know that self-exclusion alone cannot stop you from gambling. If you think you are becoming addicted, you can also get help from professional services. Nevertheless, you will find platforms such as Gamstop, Gamban, Netnanny and Betfilter useful for excluding yourself from online gambling sites. Remember that you can also block casinos not on Gamban or other self-exclusion platforms by simply chatting with the customer support of that casino.

  • Bitcoin Halving – What’s it All About?

    Bitcoin Halving – What’s it All About?

    Miners Incentive Cut in Half

    Bitcoin’s big event, one which occurs every four years, recently transpired on May 11th, 2020 at about 4:00 PM Eastern Time. Essentially, the reward for mining Bitcoin transactions is cut in half, which in turn, also cuts Bitcoin’s inflation rate in half and new Bitcoins entering into circulation is also reduced by half. Some call it “the halvening”.

    It was the third such halving since Bitcoin came into being and the first two occurred on November 28, 2012, and July 9, 2016. In 2009 there were 50 coins mined every 10 minutes but that number dropped to 25 in November of 2012 and then 12 ½ in July of 2016. As of this recent halvening (or halving, take your pick) miners now get only 6.25 coins but the electricity it takes to run this expensive mining equipment has already caused the plug to be pulled on many of the older machines. Ultimately, no more than 21 million Bitcoins can be in distribution which means the last mining date will occur sometime in 2140.

    These quadrennial occurrences will ultimately make it less and less appealing to mine Bitcoin as the reward will cease to justify the cost.

    Philip Salter, chief of mining operations at Genesis Mining stated the following, “Miners turning off after the halving caused a hashrate reduction, which causes blocks to be found less often than every 10 minutes. So, the block times rose to something like 12min instead of the usual 10min but the capacity for transactions in each block stayed the same.”

    There is an interesting and illuminating video by sportsbookreview.com that clearly illustrates how all of this works and the potential ramifications because of it. Prior to the halving, approximately 1800 coins were mined per day but that will plummet to 900 and could increase demand as the supply will have slowed down. Obviously, that would be good news for hodlers or those who have purchased Bitcoin as an investment strategy.

    A byproduct of the halving of Bitcoin has been the surge in the price of transaction fees. Now, the fact that miners get half of what they were getting a few weeks ago should have no bearing on these fees but perception is reality and according to Poolin’s vice-president Alejandro De La Torre, “Fees have nothing to do with mining. There is no correlation between transaction fees and mining difficulty. Fees increase or decrease primarily because of the fee market created in entering the limited space in a block. If there is a continuous amount of transactions in the Bitcoin network then the fees will remain high. The block space is limited, this creates a fee market. Miners naturally choose the tx’s with the highest fees as this will increase the amount of Bitcoin they make.”

    Many believe Bitcoin’s increased publicity, due to the halving, is the real reason why transaction fees have spiked and not the reduced reward for miners. Chun Wang, the co-founder of BTC mining pool F2Pool, commented on the recent uptick in transaction fees: “I feel it (the increased fee level) is more likely driven by the increasing interest in Bitcoin, not because the halved block reward or slower block generation.”

    Mark D’Aria, CEO of crypto consulting firm Bitpro, was not surprised by the increase in fees, “Even though fees are high relative to the weeks before the halving, they are nowhere near their peak in 2017 and sit at about the range of the mid-2019 rally or the early days of the 2017 bubble. In the short run, I expect fees to quickly normalize back to previous levels, and then continue the slow increase in average fees over the past few years. There is nothing intrinsic about the halving that will lead to persistently higher fees going forward. All other things being equal, fees would drop back to pre-halving levels once the average block time has normalized down to 10 minutes. But of course, this is a multivariate problem and all other things are never equal.”

    As far as the impact the halving has had on the price of Bitcoin we can see that as on May 11, 2020, the price of Bitcoin was roughly $8500 to where it sat nearly three weeks later at over $9500. Many pundits believe the prospects for Bitcoin are bright but others are not completely sold on the digital currency market as a whole. Yet as of this moment, Bitcoin is trending upwards in the post-halving environment and in the midst of a global pandemic. Tough times but Bitcoin is on the rise nonetheless.

  • Impact of lockdown on online casinos during Covid-19 in the UK [In Collaboration]

    Impact of lockdown on online casinos during Covid-19 in the UK [In Collaboration]

    GAMSTOP, a national online self-exclusion service has documented the impact of lockdown on consumers. On the other hand, the UK Gambling Commission has implemented tighter measures to heighten user protection. In fact, any online gambling operator that needs to be licensed within the UK jurisdiction has to be a member of this self-exclusion scheme. This will go a long way to helping users self-exclude themselves from UK-licensed gambling sites for a period of choice from six months to five years. Direct radio and television advertisement have now been replaced with ads containing gambling messages.

    Change in gambling patterns during the lockdown

    In light of the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent requirement from the government for people to stay at home, engagement of people in online gambling sites has increased steadily. As such, the UK gambling commission has advised all its licensed online gambling companies to set out protection measures and outline expectations regarding keeping users safe while safeguarding them from the negative effects of gambling. Consumers of gambling services are expected to understand that gambling sites feature inbuilt tools that help to set deposit limits. This assists the operator and player maintain spend at a manageable level.

    UK Gambling Commission observes gambling behaviour during lockdown

    The UK gambling regulator has quickly strengthened rules in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. This has been attributed to the fear that unengaged minds are likely to turn on mass to the vice of online gambling. After the lockdown was announced by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UKGC observed an increase in online poker, slots, virtual sports, and casino gaming. Although the current “climate” is unprecedented, the regulator has stepped up and insisted that online gambling operators have to play their part by ensuring that people stay safe.

    GAMSTOP continues to offer self-exclusion services during the lockdown

    With the lockdown effect in place, it has expressed fears of more consumers becoming vulnerable to risks associated with gambling. The chief executive of GAMSTOP, Fiona Palmer, highlighted that the scheme has continued to offer important support during this period. For anyone with Gambling issues, GAMSTOP provides a secure, free and simple solution to address these problems and create a breathing space. Once registered with the scheme, a consumer cannot prematurely withdraw from the scheme. This allows time to seek treatment from the NHS, charities or specialists to help them protect themselves more.

    This is only applicable on casinos using a UK-license, which means that non-uk casinos does not have Gamstop implemented. These casinos not connected to Gamstop have their license normally in Curacao and needs to be contacted manually to close your account.

    What is likely to cause gambling issues?

    It’s quite unclear what causes gambling problems. However, GambleAware, which is an independent government body offers information to help gamblers make informed betting decisions. GambleAware has established a relationship of gambling issues with family behaviours, winning experiences at an early age, and start of gambling at an early age. Health experts have established that gambling issues could be as a result of interaction between various biological, psychological, and social factors. Additionally, those affected by addiction in gambling-related issues tend to be addicts of drugs or alcohol. GambleAware emphasizes the use of GAMSTOP to avoid these menaces.

    How Gamstop is helping users to fight gambling-related issues during the lockdown

    GAMSTOP is a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme run by a non-profit organization, the National Online Self-Exclusion Scheme Limited (NOSES). The scheme excludes you from accessing all UK-licensed online gambling operators. This service provides users with the option of self-excluding themselves from online gambling for a period of once choice from six months, one year, or five years. There are also other self-exclusion schemes available, but they only exclude you from gaming products you’ve chosen as well as specific gambling sites. GambleAware comes in place to help people recognise and understand risks associated with excessive gambling.

    Conclusion

    Each other month brings post-apocalyptic situations. Just a few months ago, pondering the impact of a likely pandemic on various industries including the iGaming industry would have seemed absurd to most people. With people having ignored esoteric health studies, now here we are with the “real” menace. Experts have been searching for silver linings, hoping that something good could come out on the way of industry-handled COVID-19. A study was recently conducted by YouGov, which was commissioned by the UK gambling regulator. It generally established that more people had stopped gambling during the lockdown.


    The regulator has also observed an increase in session length for existing gambling customers. To ensure people remain safe, the UK Gambling Commission and GambleAware have come up with strict measures in a bid to protect players from negative effects of uncontrolled gambling. Having changed the terms of licensing, online gambling operators are now required to register with GAMSTOP scheme so that the service is available to their customers. Anyone with gambling issues can freely access confidential help and information through the National Gambling Treatment Service. Free up yourself today by self-excluding yourself from one place.

  • The Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak on Global Film Industry [In Collaboration]

    The Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak on Global Film Industry [In Collaboration]

    The catastrophic effect of the coronavirus outbreak has shaken the world in every way. More than 4 lakh people have died and over 7 million people have affected across the globe. Secondly, it has turned down the global economy and the world has entered a global recession. In addition, many people have lost their job due to the shutdown of many businesses. Now they are looking for income opportunities. 

    Further, the outbreak has not spared the global cinema industry too. The film industry has also hugely impacted by the pandemic. In this article, we will focus on the effect of the coronavirus outbreak in the film industry. We will also shed some light on the future of the cinema business. 

    Impact of COVID-19 on Cinema Business

    The entertainment industry is one of the largest businesses. However, the business has greatly affected by the COVID-19. As the government of almost every country announced lockdown to maintain social distance, nobody is allowed to move outside. 

    As a result, many media companies have to bear a huge loss. Here are some of the highlights of the impact of the pandemic in different film industries across the world. 

    Impact on the Chinese Film Industry

    The Chinese government has announced the closure of the production of cinemas. Due to which many film projects have been delayed. The film industry went down severely between February and March.

    As this is the peak time for the cinemas, the collection of the box office has dropped to $4 million from $1.8 billion. China is second in the world box office, generating 67% of the world box office revenue. So, this is a huge loss in the film industry, as the Chinese box office has been hard hit by the outbreak.

    Impact on South Korean Film Industry

    Cinema production has been closed in South Korea. As the number of audiences has significantly decreased due to lockdown many movies have been postponed. Additionally, film promotion and award shows have been delayed. The media companies in South Korea have reduced the physical presence of staff to stop the virus from spreading. 

    Impact on the Italian Film Industry

    As Italy has greatly affected by the dangerous coronavirus, every social gathering including film promotion, cinemas, and all social events have declared to shut down. The Italian government has taken great measures to close all social events to maintain social distancing and avoid any gatherings. 

    Impact on the US studio

    As US studio releases cinema all over the world, it has greatly affected by the pandemic. The production companies have postponed all of their film projects. This has brought a huge loss to the film production companies and studios. 

    Apart from that, every film industry in various countries has also gone down in this pandemic. The Japanese film industry postponed the release of the famous title Doraemon. Kuwait has also announced the complete shutdown of cinema halls, social events, and cinema productions since further notice. 

    The Indian film industry (Bollywood) has also shut down due to the pandemic until further notice by the government. All cinema halls and media companies were ordered by the government to close all of their operations until the situation gets better.  If you want more information on the crypto trading then follow bitcoinfortress.com.

    Impact on Other Entertainment Events

    Outside the film industry, the world-famous Disney parks have also been closed in Hong Kong and Shanghai. 

    Conclusion

    Now it is very uncertain to say about the future of the film industry. Undoubtedly, it will recover, but it is hard to predict when everything will be in order. There is a strong possibility that many media companies may set into default.  Every media company is waiting for the global threat to pass. 

  • Self-Exclusion from casino websites in the UK [In Collaboration]

    Self-Exclusion from casino websites in the UK [In Collaboration]

    It is not news that the thrill and excitement that comes with gambling can be so intoxicating that you can lose yourself. Without a doubt, you can find yourself spending more time gambling than doing anything else. In this case, once you have realized that gambling is becoming a big problem and you are always craving the thrills it offers, self-exclusion is the best way to go. As it stands, there are various ways and systems you can use to self-exclude. One of them is Gamstop, which was created to help players ban or restrict themselves from online gambling platforms.

    How to Self-Exclude

    As it stands, self-exclusion is quite easy at most online casinos around the world. In the UK, you can easily self-exclude because currently, the UK Gambling Commission has allowed online casinos to offer self-exclusion options to players. So, in most cases, you can simply go to your player’s dashboard to start the process to self-exclude. In addition to that, you can choose to use third-party platforms to restrict yourself from all online gambling sites. For instance, you can choose to download the Gamban app, which will give you the chance to easily block all gambling apps and sites on all your devices.

    UK Casino Self-Exclusion Options

    Currently, there are various options you can use to self-exclude from gambling platforms. Some of the self-exclusion options include doing so on at the casino, on third-party sites and systems such as Gamstop, Netnanny, Gamban, and the like. The most efficient is Gamstop, and this is because all licensed UK casinos are registered on Gamstop. As a result, if you choose to self-exclusion, you will not be able to access any licensed UK online casino. You can go on ahead to visit the Gamcheck site so that you can see the full list of online casinos licensed under the UK Gambling Commission.

    UK Casino Self-Exclusion – Comparing the Options

    When you choose to self-exclude and you decide to do so on the casino site, you might be required to provide a means of verification, which can be discouraging. In this case, during the process of self-exclusion, you can decide to change your mind because the process is not instant. For this reason, using third-party websites such as Netnanny to self-exclude may be the better option. However, if you use third-party sites, you will still have access to independent online casinos that are not recognized by the platform. Nonetheless, the best way to self-exclude completely is by combining the various options.

    UK Casino Self-Exclusion – What’s More

    In any case, if you have a friend or family member who is showing signs of gambling addiction, you can as well opt-in for exclusion on behalf of the person. You can use the third-party site option if you do not have access to the person’s online casino account. However, you need to note that when you restrict access through Gamstop, all casinos not on Gamstop can still be accessible. If the online casino is not listed on Gamstop, you can still also contact the casino support to find out how you go through with the self-exclusion process to help your addiction.

    UK Casino Self-Exclusion – Final thoughts

    Gambling, especially online, can be addictive and this is mainly because it is easy to wager on games. Nowadays, you can even play on the go thanks to the advancement in web and mobile technologies. For this reason, self-exclusion is very important and before you join any casino, you need to confirm they are ambassadors of responsible gambling. That way, you can easily opt-in for self-exclusion on the casino site. Notwithstanding, as we have already pointed out in the article, you can self-exclude using third-party self-exclusion apps and websites such as Gamban. But note that, casinos not on Gamban will still be accessible.