Will the Cyprus crisis impact online gambling?

[jetset]

What's your opinion on the recent actions by the Cyprus government that will see major depositors at the island's banks taking a seriously short haircut through a hefty raid on their investments by a government levy?

The politicians say it's necessary to secure a further massive bail out loan from the EU and IMF, but to my mind it is simply government licensed theft that:

* Infringes personal property and asset rights

* Will ruin the island's reputation as a haven for investment funds

* Sets a dangerous precedent of summary taxation by decree

What would the reaction be in your country if government proposed such a move, arbitrarily taking a significant percentage of your savings?

Is this likely to impact online players through the gambling operators and/or e-processors, a number of which are known to use Cyprus banks?

 

[jetset]

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[Slotster!]

I read today that it's likely anyone with savings over 100K (Euro) within the Cyprian banking system stand to automatically lose at least 40% overnight. Can you IMAGINE that!? Wondering if bankers will have to give 40% of their bonuses from the last few years back; accrued entirely from money that clearly wasn't there.

The world is going mad.

 

[weesie]

With Cyprus in the news so much now, I see why my credit union has always denied any transaction I have tried to make with some on-line processors. My Pay Linq is one site that is based or works out of Cyprus. I was able to get an account with them but that was it. Credit union said they would not process ANY transactions for this site due to large amounts of fraud in that Country/City.

Depending on how many sites use Cyprus based companies, this could get messy for on-line players.

 

[jetset]

I read today that it's likely anyone with savings over 100K (Euro) within the Cyprian banking system stand to automatically lose at least 40% overnight. Can you IMAGINE that!? Wondering if bankers will have to give 40% of their bonuses from the last few years back; accrued entirely from money that clearly wasn't there.

The world is going mad.

It's difficult to believe that this sort of thing can happen; it overturns all the encouragement the public are normally given by bankers and politicians that saving is a good thing for the economy, and the notion that your money is safe in a bank. Confidence in saving has already taken a massive hit due to the ridiculously low interest rates currently being offered on even fixed deposits.

I worry that if they successfully pull this imo scandalous cash grab off it may set a precedent for other cash strapped governments.

And of course it could have a negative impact on internet transactions such as online gambling.

 

[vinylweatherman]

With Cyprus in the news so much now, I see why my credit union has always denied any transaction I have tried to make with some on-line processors. My Pay Linq is one site that is based or works out of Cyprus. I was able to get an account with them but that was it. Credit union said they would not process ANY transactions for this site due to large amounts of fraud in that Country/City.

Depending on how many sites use Cyprus based companies, this could get messy for on-line players.

Well, perhaps we have the answer as to why players can't get their money out of there. The government of Cyprus have prevented the movement of money out of the country in order to prevent those with large deposits circumventing the levy. MyPayLinq probably have way more than €100,000 on deposit, so are facing a considerable loss. If it is 40%, MyPayLinq will no longer have enough to pay everybody at once, and quite possibly have not been forwarding money to operators for some time, as it can't leave the country. This would also explain why operators are still processing players' withdrawals back to MyPayLinq if it has been used in the past as a deposit method, even though players are asking them not to as it seems they can't get their money out of there.

It is rather like EWX, operators knew it was going down, but cooperated with the secrecy in order to save their own asses before those of their players, which they did by processing withdrawals back to EWX for as long as the PR excuse for the problems remained "technical difficulties".

Now that the crisis in Cyprus has become big news, and we know that there are going to be significant seizures of funds on deposit, funds in MyPayLinq are effectively funds in a Cyprus bank account. If it's already there, it's stuck there for now, if it's not, no reason to put it there.

I expect the first sign players will see of this crisis is the cutting of ties with MyPayLinq, with it vanishing as a deposit option everywhere. This would be a good opportunity to get money out of MyPayLinq into a casino, any casino, provided the option is still there. Players who have used MyPayLinq in the past should refrain from submitting withdrawals. In effect, players should cover their own asses with the same vigour demonstrated by the casinos when EWX went down.

It may be a while before the full effects of this crisis can be known.

 

[weesie]

Well, perhaps we have the answer as to why players can't get their money out of there. The government of Cyprus have prevented the movement of money out of the country in order to prevent those with large deposits circumventing the levy. MyPayLinq probably have way more than €100,000 on deposit, so are facing a considerable loss. If it is 40%, MyPayLinq will no longer have enough to pay everybody at once, and quite possibly have not been forwarding money to operators for some time, as it can't leave the country. This would also explain why operators are still processing players' withdrawals back to MyPayLinq if it has been used in the past as a deposit method, even though players are asking them not to as it seems they can't get their money out of there.

It is rather like EWX, operators knew it was going down, but cooperated with the secrecy in order to save their own asses before those of their players, which they did by processing withdrawals back to EWX for as long as the PR excuse for the problems remained "technical difficulties".

Now that the crisis in Cyprus has become big news, and we know that there are going to be significant seizures of funds on deposit, funds in MyPayLinq are effectively funds in a Cyprus bank account. If it's already there, it's stuck there for now, if it's not, no reason to put it there.

I expect the first sign players will see of this crisis is the cutting of ties with MyPayLinq, with it vanishing as a deposit option everywhere. This would be a good opportunity to get money out of MyPayLinq into a casino, any casino, provided the option is still there. Players who have used MyPayLinq in the past should refrain from submitting withdrawals. In effect, players should cover their own asses with the same vigour demonstrated by the casinos when EWX went down.

It may be a while before the full effects of this crisis can be known.

I agree. Players need to stop using mypaylinq asap in my opinion. I did complain when my bank refused my transactions back then, now, I am glad.

I wonder what other processors work or are based out of Cyprus?