Due to lack of a regulatory law, Palau is not ready to entertain the company advertising the launching of a cryptocurrency online gambling in Palau, according to Finance Minister Elbuchel Sadang.
Sadang said he has also asked the RA Entertainment to correct its issued statement that Palau is looking into collaborating with the company involving blockchain technology and cryptocurrency industry.
“I have asked RAcoin Entertainment to delete or correct their statement as Palau is not ready to entertain such business without legislation in place,” Sadang said in an email response to an article published online that shows him meeting with a certain Yuliya Chashchina, Director of International Affairs and honored representative of RA Entertainment Inc. here in Palau.
The article from the firm claimed that Palau is “willing to deliver full support to the RA Entertainment Inc.”
Sadang said Palau is still jittery about the cryptocurrency industry and the lack of education about the technology.
“We don’t know what it is all about and the benefits it will bring. Plus, we don’t have law and enforcement on place for it,” Sadang said in his email response.
RA Entertainment article stated, “Palau reckons that blockchain technology and fintech can greatly contribute to the economic development of the country.”
Sadang, however, did not discount the possibility of embracing cryptocurrency but the proposal from RA Entertainment is not something Palau is keen on supporting.
RA Entertainment Inc. is heavily advertising online about adopting blockchain ideas to traditional gambling with Palau as the launching pad of its new business model.
The firm claimed that it has leased a land in Ngerekebesang Hamlet where a deluxe casino and hotel resort will open late 2018 or early 2019.
Gambling and establishment of casino remain to be illegal in Palau.
In a national referendum in 2010, Majority of Palau citizens voted against a casino.
President Tommy Remengesau Jr. first vetoed a casino bill in 2003. In 2009, former president Johnson Toribiong also vetoed a casino bill.
In 2010, former President Johnson Toribiong signed into law a bill facilitating additional Pachinko Concession and Internet Digits Concession Contract in Palau.
The Digital gambling law however was first passed during the time of former president Kuniwo Nakamura. (Bernadette H. Carreon)