Sports Betting has exploded in popularity as a means of both recreation and putting money in people’s pockets, but what about betting on other types of events? In April 2021, IBM was granted a patent on a blockchain method for facilitating betting on various types of events. In particular, the method uses zero-knowledge verification to ensure user privacy while also keeping users who bet money accountable for their wagers. A key problem of online betting is how to ensure that users can actually collect their earnings. If individuals are able to, for example, delete their account and remain unaccountable for their bets, then the entire system would unravel. At the same time, however, requiring users to insert a form of ID could be a major privacy breach during the blockchain checking process for facilitating the exchanges related to the bets. IBM’s patent appears to address both the issues of accountability and privacy.

IBM is no stranger to cryptocurrency technology or the Securities Tokenization Sector. In 2019, it launched Stablecoin along with several partners. More recently, Deutsche Bank approached IBM to develop a crypto trading platform. Given IBM’s strong advocacy of blockchain technology, it is not surprising to see it as one of the largest assignees in the sector, but its recent expansion into blockchain-based betting systems demonstrates it is constantly pushing in different directions within the industry. This continued investment in the sector in addition to a partnership with a major financial giant such as Deutsche Bank signals investors should keep an eye on future partnerships and licensing operations for IBM.

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