New Governor J.B Pritzker has raised hopes of legal Illinois sports betting after including $200 million in future tax revenue from wagering activities in his 2020 budget proposal. Pritzker is proposing to legalize sports betting at facilities across the state, including in-person and online gambling. Those betting via the internet would be able to do so from inside Illinois or in a jurisdiction that has entered into a reciprocal agreement with the state. Pritzker has said Illinois could generate between $384m and $680m in gross sports betting revenue per year under full implementation. Based on the proposed 20% tax rate,…

The US Justice Department Sued over Wire Act Opinion by  iDEA Growth Trade Group An online gaming association known as iDEA Growth has become the latest organization to legally challenge to the Department of Justice about their revised opinion on the Federal Wire Act. In January, the revised opinion was issued following a request from the DOJ’s Criminal Division to reconsider the 2011 opinion on the Wire Act. That ruling had paved the way for the roll-out of online gambling in a number of US states. Under the revised opinion, the Wire Act would prohibit all forms of gambling, and…

Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Dark Money ties are coming to light: A single six-figure mystery donor accounted for 100 percent of funding raised by his nonprofit group, a new tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal. President Trump tapped Whitaker to become acting Attorney General earlier in November after Jeff Sessions was asked to resign. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) is a self-proclaimed 501(c)(3) “watchdog” nonprofit. This is not the first year a single big donor has accounted for the entirety of FACT’s funding, according to an exclusive new analysis by CRP….

United States banking giant JPMorgan Chase is launching its own cryptocurrency, the JPM Coin, in a first for U.S. banking. In a move commentators may see as unlikely, the multinational lender will use its newly developed asset to increase settlement efficiency, initially within three of its operations. Speaking to CNBC, Umar Farooq, who leads JPM’s blockchain focus, appeared buoyant on blockchain technology’s perspectives at the bank. JPM Coin will initially focus on international settlements by major corporations, helping speed up transactions that currently take a day or longer using extant options such as SWIFT. The new coin operates on a…

Casinos would run sports betting in Iowa if the new bills in the Iowa House and Senate were to legalize the practice. Bets  would be allowed on college and professional sports at the state’s 19 land based casinos, as well as online if Iowans visit a casino in person to register an account and provide age verification. The requirement to visit a casino in person would sunset after 18 months under a Senate bill. The bill, which passed a Senate subcommittee Tuesday, would also legalize fantasy sports for the first time in Iowa. A similar bill in the House is…

Acting Attorney General Questioned About Adelson Wire Act Ties Matthew Whitaker, Acting US Attorney General, said on Friday that nothing “corrupt” occurred when the Department of Justice suddenly changed an eight-year-old legal interpretation in a way that clearly benefited President Donald Trump’s biggest political donor, casino oligarch Sheldon Adelson. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked Whitaker whether he was involved in the January decision of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel to alter an established legal interpretation of the Federal Wire Act in order to further limit online gambling and whether he had any communications…