PROFILE WHO’S WHO: This month:
How did you first get involved with the gaming industry? In 2009 while in law school, I started as a law clerk for a land-based slot manufacturer Aruze Gaming America, Inc., working in regulatory compliance and commercial contracts.
What attracted you to this sector? When in Rome is the short answer. I was attending the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and it has a fantastic gaming law program that was primarily taught by Bob Faiss, one of the original architects of gaming law in Nevada. Having that opportunity was second to none and that’s why I’m here today.
What were you doing prior to the gaming industry? Prior to the gaming industry, I worked in politics and healthcare primarily representing three- thousand hospital workers from the housekeepers to the trauma nurses at Las Vegas’s only public hospital.
What are you responsible for in your current position? Close to everything outside the blockchain technology itself – growing the business, sales, investor relations, legal and compliance and day-to day operations.
What have been the biggest industry changes you’ve seen in your time? Consolidation and the shift to digital gaming have dominated my career thus far and its been a positive for the industry.
What are the biggest positive factors for your sector right now? The continued expansion of sports betting, especially in the US and the proactive regulation of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in important gaming jurisdictions.
And what are the negatives ones – the obstacles to growth? A challenge, particularly in the US, is the uncertainty around cryptocurrencies as a security and the regulatory consequences that go along with that determination. However, regulation of crypto- currencies in the US is underway like the licensing of
Matthew Stafford
BlockChain Innovations Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer
exchanges and a process for exempting certain currencies as utility coins under the Howey test, so that there is a a viable framework in the coming months.
Looking at your entire career, what do you think was your smartest move? Bar none, leaving politics for the law.
And dumbest one? I try to learn from all my mistakes, so it would have to be any time I didn’t grow from the experience.
What do you think the egaming space will look like in ten years’ time? The e-gaming space will be larger than anyone expects and will run on the technologies we see emerging today, so innovation remains critical to success. And I have no doubt eSports will equal and then surpass other major sports in terms of viewership, revenues, sponsorship etc. These e-sport athletes have notoriety approaching other professionals, so I suspect I’ll see them in tabloids, promoting products, and enjoying the same sort of fame athletes in mainstream sports have today.
If you’d never embarked on this career, what other line of work would you have liked to pursue? Ideally, I would have been a professional athlete, but that ship sailed long ago. Being a chef would be a fulfilling choice in my mind.
Book:
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Favourite… Movie: The Big Lebowski Music album: Linda Ronstadt’s “Canciones de Mi Padre”
Past time: Enjoying friends and family.
TV Show: Live Sports Food: Anything with Green Chile from New Mexico NOVEMBER 2018 69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74
