Gambling News Digest January 7–13

Russian bookmakers managed to increase traffic by 20%, sports federations want to be allowed to receive data on bets made by athletes, gambling zones received 36% more guests during the winter holidays , and the Central Bank has developed models of cross-border payments with the digital ruble. Why did Google and Meta lose their dominant position in the global online advertising market, what damage did the crypto industry suffer due to hacks in 2022, and how did the volume of gambling services provided in Kazakhstan increase by 8.5% – the answers are already in the Login Casino digest on January 7–13.

Traffic on Russian betting sites increased by 20%

In December last year, Russian bookmakers increased traffic on their official websites by 20.77% compared to November of the same year. The total attendance of online betting platforms reached 76.44 million. The total increase in attendance was shown by 12 sites out of 15. At the same time, the top most visited betting Internet establishments were headed by bookmakers Fonbet, Winline, and Liga Stavok. Experts explain the increase in traffic by the football world championship, which took place in December and attracted bettors to betting platforms. For a more detailed analysis, read the material of our journalists.

Sports federations will be able to receive data on bets made by athletes

Already in the spring session, the government will consider a bill that will allow sports leagues and federations to receive data on rates and bets made by athletes, coaches, agents and other interested parties. The approval of the bill will be the next step in the fight against match-fixing in Russia. What other initiatives are planned to be considered during the spring session – our correspondents recognized.

Russian gambling and tourist zones received 36% more guests during the New Year holidays

The number of visitors to gambling and tourist clusters in Russia during the New Year celebrations increased by 28-36%. The Sochi gambling zone showed the maximum increase in attendance, in which 32.6 thousand people arrived in the period January 1 & 8, 2023 – this is 36% more than in the same period, but a year earlier. “Siberian coin” visited by 3.9 thousand tourists – it is also 36% more than the previous year. The casino in Primorye was visited by 8.6 thousand guests, which is 28% more than in 2022.

“Stoloto” entered the fight to register the scratch lotto trademark

Lottery operator “Stoloto” filed a trademark registration request, which sounds like “Scratch lotto scratch lotto”, but Rospatent rejected the request. The service is sure that these words are not a trademark and are not subject to protection, because this is the name of all instant lotteries in which you need to erase the protective layer to participate in the draw. With the decision of Rospatent in "Stoloto" do not agree and are going to challenge the decision of the department in higher instances, since for the development of the company's product it is necessary that its name be protected by law.

Fake lotteries – the most common holiday scam

Group-IB information security specialists talk about this. Fraudsters run holiday lotteries through fake websites. One of the most common fraudulent schemes is sending phishing emails with lottery tickets. The user in such a lottery definitely wins, after which the scammers are asked to pay tax in order to receive a large prize. At the same time, the key goal of the scammers – not selling a ticket at all, but getting access to information about Russian bank cards. 

The Central Bank presented possible models for settlements with other countries using the digital ruble

In Russia, work is already underway to create a new model of cross-border settlements with the introduction of the digital ruble in them. The Bank of Russia presented two methods on the basis of which it is possible to conduct settlements between the Russian Federation and other countries using digital currencies of central banks. The first model provides for the integration of digital currencies of central banks through a bilateral agreement between states. The second model provides for the launch of a single integration platform and the connection of other countries to it. How experts reacted to the proposals of the regulator and how soon the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will be able to implement the – read our article.

The crypto industry lost $3.6 billion in 2022 due to hacks

In 2022, the crypto industry experienced 167 major attacks, resulting in losses of $3.6 billion. This figure is 47.4% higher than the damage caused by hacker attacks in 2021. More than half of the losses are due to 12 incidents. The top three in terms of losses were Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana. But the network from Binance became the leader in the number of attacks.

Google and Meta lose their dominant position in online advertising

Google and Meta, which have dominated the online advertising market for years, have lost their dominance due to the rapid growth of competitors: TikTok, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft. Parents Google and Meta's ad revenue share is expected to fall by 2.5 pp in 2023 – up to 48.4%. By 2024, this figure will drop to 43.9%. At the same time, other technology groups continue to expand their share of the dynamic digital advertising market: Amazon and Apple have significantly increased their marketing teams, TikTok continues to grow viral video popularity, and Amazon managed to grow its ad revenue from $1 billion to $38 between 2015 and 2023. billion

The volume of services provided in the gambling sector of Kazakhstan increased by 8.5 times

Analysis services sector of Kazakhstan in January-September of the past year showed that the sphere of casinos and sports betting in the country is developing at a really impressive pace. During the analyzed period, the volume of services provided by gambling operators reached 456.2 billion tenge. This figure is 8.5 times higher than the figures of the previous year. Read more – read the material of our correspondents.