US: Regulators in three states crack down on NFT gambling

The actions accuse Slotie NFT of illegally and fraudulently selling nonfungible tokens, often referred to as NFTs, to raise capital for online and metaverse casinos. The actions were filed by the Alabama Securities Commission, Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, and the Texas State Securities Board.

The actions accuse Slotie of issuing 10,000 Slotie NFTs that are similar to stock and other equities.

“The Slotie NFTs purportedly provide investors with ownership interests in the casinos and the right to passively share in the profits of the casinos,” a joint announcement said. “The rarity of each Slotie NFT, however, purportedly determines the amount of passive income payable to the owner. Slotie NFTs that contain rarer traits allegedly provide more passive income than NFTs consisting of more common traits.”

Slotie also allegedly issued WATTs, an ERC-721 token on the Ethereum blockchain that allegedly played a key role in the illegal scheme. According to the regulatory actions, Slotie promoted the NFTs by telling investors that each Slotie NFT generates 10 WATTs per day. Investors owning 2 Slotie NFTs and 1,800 WATTs were purportedly able to mint a new NFT – a process that Slotie referred to as “breeding.”

The new NFT, known as a Slotie Junior NFTs, purportedly doubles the profits paid to owners of Slotie NFTs and entitles investors to ownership of a plot of land in a metaverse.

The state securities regulators alleged that Slotie was illegally and fraudulently dealing in Slotie NFTs and Slotie Junior NFTs. For example, they accused Slotie of concealing its assets and liabilities, its anticipated use of capital, the identity of partnering casinos, and key risks tied to the metaverse casinos. They also alleged that Slotie was violating state registration laws.

State securities regulators said they are warning investors about emerging investment schemes tied to the metaverse. State securities regulators recently filed enforcement actions to stop similar illegal offerings promoted by Flamingo Casino Club and Sand Vegas Casino Club. These recent enforcement actions also involved organizations illegally raising capital for online and metaverse casinos.