Bittrex CEO to Advise Cuban-Backed Crypto Gaming Platform

The chief executive of one of America's largest cryptocurrency exchanges is joining the Mark Cuban-funded eSports betting platform Unikrn.

The platform announced Thursday that Bittrex co-founder Bill Shihara will sit on its advisory board in a move aimed to improve the accessibility and security of its UnikoinGold token.

Unikrn co-founder Rahul Sood told CoinDesk that Shihara will also guide the company more generally as it seeks to expand its UnikoinGold network. In order to accomplish that, however, the company needs to encourage adoption.

He explained:

"Unikrn is working aggressively to make UnikoinGold much easier for customers to access and use – because quite frankly it's still too hard – as we are looking to the future of security tokens; all of which Bill can help us with in a number of ways."

Shihara echoed the sentiment, telling CoinDesk that Unikrn is "in it for the long-haul," and recognizes that "evolving and improving their offering will also help support the long-term outlook for the overall token ecosystem."

"The gaming industry is extremely popular around the world, and it's exciting to see blockchain projects with inventive use cases targeting popular industries," he said. "This is the type of innovation that can really help drive interest and blockchain adoption globally."

Perhaps more significant, however, is the fact that Unikrn is already operating under existing federal regulations within the U.S., Shihara said.

Sood noted that the firm is already in compliance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sports betting within individual states is legal means the company may soon expand its reach.

"Unikrn has been expecting a change in the U.S. for years, and we have a substantial U.S. presence," he said, adding that the company has a team based out of Las Vegas.

"That gives us a significant advantage when it comes to expanding our sportsbook into individual states as laws change," he added. "By August you'll see Unikrn launch across multiple global markets with various types of esports betting using both fiat and cryptocurrency."

Digital gambling image via Shutterstock