Lottery Hongkong and XOTTO

Lottery Hongkong

China has a new gambling problem to worry about: lottery tickets. According to Chinese media outlet HK01, smugglers are trying to smuggle Mark Six tickets out of Hong Kong and into Macau and mainland China. Customs officials recently found 16K worth of the lottery tickets on board a boat they were inspecting on September 21.

While the Mark Six tickets themselves aren’t illegal, they’re certainly not kosher: The game isn’t promoted or conducted by way of trade or business, and it must be played for a charitable purpose or for the benefit of a representative government in Hong Kong. Additionally, it must be regulated by the Government Lotteries Management Committee, which is a separate entity from the Gambling Commission.

As part of an effort to revive tourism in the city, Hong Kong is giving away 500,000 free flights this year. The campaign is scheduled to start March 1, and participants will be able to enter the flight-ticket giveaway through a lottery system or buy-one-get-one-free purchases from participating airlines, including HK Express, Cathay Pacific, and Hong Kong Airlines.

While the free tickets will be given out through a lottery system, it could be difficult for couples or families to each win enough tickets to travel together. Luckily, a new cryptocurrency startup is offering an alternative: XOTTO, which is powered by blockchain technology and aims to make the lottery more fair and transparent. XOTTO offers players a chance to win cash prizes as well as virtual tokens for every ticket they purchase, and all of the transactions on the platform are recorded on the blockchain for transparency.