As reported by online news entity Decrypt, a partnership has been struck between Chinese lottery service provider Hongbo and Cambodian lottery operator Junxiang that will see the launch of the world’s first ‘paper-based blockchain-powered lottery’
The printing and selling of the tickets are set to be tracked on a blockchain-based supply chain named Scratchblock while the first offering resulting from the deal will see the production of a paper scratchcard product called Goldvalley KHR.
This product, which will be verifiable by players through the use of a QR code located on the ticket and is tied to a record on the blockchain, will verify both the ticket’s authenticity and its payout value.
Whereas lotteries are dictated by the generation of random numbers, on a scratchcard product these random numbers will dictate the placement of symbols that need to be matched in order to receive a prize.
This number generation and distribution is usually dictated by algorithms which in turn are monitored by the authorities which oversee gambling in specific regions.
The effectiveness of this algorithm in evenly distributing odds across the country will be monitored through the scratchblock technology as it enables key metrics to be monitored on the blockchain, such as comparing award return rates to ticket batch numbers.
While the upcoming Goldvalley KHR offering has been dubbed as the first ‘paper-based blockchain-powered lottery’ it isn’t the first lottery system to use blockchain technology. That honour goes to Shenzhen’s Welfare (Charity) Lottery system which launched in 2019.
The news however does build on the recent legalisation of gambling on the lottery within Cambodia and continues the country’s experimentation with the technology following on from the announcement that it is developing a central bank digital currency to boost liquidity for its local Riel currency.