The Commission

United

The United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission has charged blockchain-based fantasy sports operator Sorare with providing unlicensed gambling facilities. The France-based company is due to appear in UK court on Oct. 4.
This is a rare move for the British agency and appears to have been three years in the making.&nbsp;
<h2 id="fantasy-competition-collectible-nfts">Fantasy competition, collectible NFTs</h2>
According to The Guardian, the Gambling Commission had previously <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/26/british-gambling-regulator-prosecutes-sorare-football-game" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">mounted</a> only a single prosecution since its creation in 2005. The commission <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/consumer-information-notice-sorare-com-prosecution" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">provided</a> little information in its announcement about Sorare:
<blockquote>
 “Football-themed website Sorare.com is due to appear in court next week charged with providing unlicensed gambling facilities to consumers in Britain.”
</blockquote>
The British press quoted Sorare as <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/26/british-gambling-regulator-prosecutes-sorare-football-game" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">saying</a> in response:
<blockquote>
 “We are aware of the claims made by the Gambling Commission and have instructed our UK counsel to challenge them.&nbsp;We firmly deny any claims that Sorare is a gambling product under UK laws. The Commission has misunderstood our business and wrongly determined that gambling laws apply to Sorare.”
</blockquote>
Sorare <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-sorare-and-how-to-play-it" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">offers collectible</a> digital cards in the form of&nbsp;<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/nonfungible-tokens-for-beginners/what-are-nfts-and-why-are-they-revolutionizing-the-art-world" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/nonfungible-tokens-for-beginners/what-are-nfts-and-why-are-they-revolutionizing-the-art-world">non-fungible tokens&nbsp;(NFTs)</a>. Players compete with the fantasy team they assemble in NFTs with athlete performance based on their real-world activity that week. Players’ teams’ overall success is tracked with points. Players can participate in European football, baseball and basketball competitions.
<figure>
 <img alt="UK Gambling Commission charges Sorare for unlicensed facilities" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/0192348a-0845-7348-9510-8b824c5c59b1">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 2024-2025 season Sorare basketball trading card. Source: Sorare
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Sorare also produces collectible athlete card NFTs that can be bought and sold using Ether (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>). The prices of those NFTs can rise to the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
<h3 id="the-commission-took-its-time">The commission took its time</h3>
The Gambling Commission <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/uk-gambling-commission-opens-inquiry-into-fantasy-nft-soccer-game-sorare" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">opened an investigation</a> into Sorare in October 2021. The commission <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/freedomofinformation/sorare-inquiry" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/freedomofinformation/sorare-inquiry">declined</a> to make the findings of its investigation public as of July 2023 but said, “As part of our regulatory activities, we will have dialogue with operators and third parties to establish facts […] before reaching a final outcome.”&nbsp;
<figure>
 <img alt="UK Gambling Commission charges Sorare for unlicensed facilities" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01923488-a4cc-7297-939b-d0be8b1ecc3b">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/sellers_uk/status/1839684652874817959" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/sellers_uk/status/1839684652874817959">SellersUK</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
According to The Sorare Ramble podcast, Sorare <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xwtgH0OpC83aR2jY51Tvn?si=u91VPYmgQWKqQB-oioFbmw&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=78430038483d456c" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">faced</a> similar charges in France but settled them before the case reached court.
Founded in 2018, Sorare originally accepted only cryptocurrency from players but changed its policy in 2023 <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/yuga-acquire-roar-studios-otherside-etihad-launch-nft-staking" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">to accept fiat to boost</a> adoption.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/polkadot-indy-500-driver-conor-daly-dad-holds-dot/" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/polkadot-indy-500-driver-conor-daly-dad-holds-dot/">Polkadot’s Indy 500 driver Conor Daly: ‘My dad holds DOT, how mad is that?’</a>

UK Gambling Commission charges Sorare for unlicensed facilities

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Sep 27, 2024

SEC Chair Gensler Affirms Existing Cryptocurrency Regulations in the U.S.

Bitcoin (BTC) Experts Divert Attention To Cutoshi (CUTO): The Memecoin Spreading The Teachings Of...

BNB Chain Enhances Stablecoin Retention with TVL Incentive Program and DeFi Integration (27 Sep)

Swan Bitcoin Accuses Tether of Aiding Theft of Mining Business

SHIB Leads Altcoin Surge: BONK, BRETT, CFX, XEC, and More Pump

Terra Luna Classic Moves Closer to Tax2Gas, LUNC Price Jumps 6%

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!