Marko Jakovetic: “The days of crypto and metaverse scepticism are numbered”

On the occasion of the Online Casino Summit Italy, we caught up with Marko Jakovetic, an industry professional with an extensive track record of working for some of the biggest companies in the gambling sector. He has held various stints in some of the biggest industry brands and has seen the industry grow, evolve, and change over the past decade. We pick Jakovetic’s brain on his opinion about the adoption of cryptocurrencies and metaverse solutions, as well as what the Italian market looks like for regulated operators, and not least – what consumers should be aware of when approaching new ground-breaking technology.

Q:Marko, the upcoming Online Casino Summit Italy is an all-encompassing industry gathering that is broaching several interesting topics – including the use of crypto and metaverse solutions in the iGaming industry. What is your opinion about the implementation of these technologies? Is Italy the right market for them?

The implementation of these technologies is going to add more convenience to some customers. Throughout history, there was always scepticism when a new payment(or trading) method was being introduced with credit/debit cards, cheques, cash(both paper currency and coins) and even gold not being fully trusted by the population at that time but yet each of them managed to gain the trust and become the payment method of choice for many and in my opinion we will see history repeating itself here with these new payment solutions slowly gaining more and more popularity its a matter of time before they become the payment method of choice for many. Italy is a well-developed country with its residents being no strangers to modern technology which makes me believe that we will see a lot of interest from Italian customers looking to take advantage of everything these new technologies will have to offer.

Q:What are the main risks to consumers and businesses in pursuing an "out-of-the-box" approach towards these two technologies? Do you think the time has come for proper experimentation with metaverse, NFTs, and crypto tokens as part of the traditional iGaming experience?

For the consumer, the biggest risk is using an unregulated online casino for their entertainment as they lack in security and protection of their customers, as well as the presence of scams that offer deposits via cryptocurrencies where the customer has no guarantee or protection from being scammed out of their deposits and not being allowed to withdraw, while for the operators I would say that the biggest risk would be not fully understanding and/or following the regulatory requirements with their procedures. As mentioned earlier I believe that it’s only a matter of time before these become the new payment method of choice by the consumer and operators that implement these technologies first will have the advantage of being among the first to build a relationship with the customers that prefer to use these payment methods.

Q:Outside of this, how have online casinos fared in the regulated Italian market over the past year, and what have been the main challenges they have had to address?

The regulated Italian online casino market has been steadily growing over the past years with more operators entering the market and with increasing revenue being generated with the biggest challenges are having to navigate the complex Italian regulatory framework, which requires strict adherence to player protection measures and responsible gaming practices, high taxation rates of 20% on gross gaming revenue, which can significantly impact profitability and competing in a saturated market with established operators that have substantial brand recognition and longstanding customer bases that they have already built a relationship and gained their trust.

Q:Speaking from your vast experience as part of the industry, what do you think the main focus in the Italian market for iGaming operators is as of right now?

To overcome these challenges, we have seen online casinos focus on enhancing their customer experience, investing in marketing and advertising, and developing innovative products to attract new players. They have also partnered with local companies to better cater to Italian players' preferences and offer tailored services in the Italian language. Overall, while the Italian online casino market presents significant challenges, it also offers considerable growth opportunities for operators that can successfully navigate the market's unique regulatory and competitive environment.

Q:What are you personally looking forward to learning about at the Online Casino Summit Italy in May?

There are going to be discussions on multiple topics that I'm interested in learning more about at the Online Casino Summit but personally, I am most looking forward to learning more about the use of cryptocurrencies in online gambling and how to keep up on top of your game when it comes to SEO and the constant updates and evolution of search engine algorithms.

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