A few days ago, Sony filed a patent application for a betting platform that could also accept bitcoin.
The patent application US20210142624 was filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. with the United States Patent Office and concerns an “e-sports betting platform”.
The description of the application also mentions game consoles such as Sony PlayStation, or those produced by Microsoft or Nintendo, as possible users of such a platform, via a client/server technology.
Moreover, at one point it is explicitly stated:
“Wagers may be pecuniary, e.g., money or bitcoin, or may be non-pecuniary, e.g., game assets, digital rights, and virtual currency”.
In other words, it would appear to be a kind of multimedia digital e-sports “casino” that will accept bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
It is therefore possible to imagine that Sony is working on a new platform that would allow the use of fiat currencies and bitcoin, as well as other assets such as items or gaming credits, to bet on e-sports events.
The world of e-sports, i.e. digital sports competitions, is growing rapidly and has a considerable turnover, as evidenced by the various e-sports stars who are dominating YouTube for example (PewDiePie above all).
Why is Sony betting on Bitcoin
Cryptocurrencies could play a very important role here, because they allow easy, fast, and above all unrestricted exchange of value. For instance, by integrating a Lightning Network node into a platform such as the one Sony envisages, it would be possible to handle thousands of micro-transactions per second in BTC with users, and the same could be done using other cryptocurrencies.
In fact, Sony’s patent application would allow players to bet in real-time while watching e-sports competitions even on the outcomes of individual events, with the betting odds calculated in real-time by an artificial intelligence system.
The use of cryptocurrencies would make it very easy and fast for players to deposit and withdraw their funds, perhaps even connecting the crypto wallet directly to the platform so as to make everything automated. It would also allow these operations to be carried out without any limits other than those imposed by the platform itself.
On the other hand, competition from betting apps could eventually make itself felt in this sector, so even centralized platforms will sooner or later have to get to grips with cryptocurrencies.
