YESorNO, or how cryptocurrencies are entering the online betting industry…<

Crypto-assets and the blockchain continue to spread in the various sectors of the economy, and it is towards online betting that the new French innovation for the start of the school year is emerging…

In 1999, a service appeared on the global web that would revolutionize the distribution of pieces of music to the public, and lay the foundations for the concept of digital disruption. Withdrawn in 2001 after 2 years of legal proceedings in the United States for copyright infringement, Napster, because it is about him, will inspire thousands of entrepreneurial geeks as to how to launch a digital-focused business: launch a functional product as quickly as possible, without worrying about the existence of an appropriate legal framework, hoping to reach the so-called "too big to fail" critical mass ("too big to fail"). fail”) which will force the legislator to adapt in the face of pressure from users. AirBnB and Uber are among the best known to have also successfully done this.

At the crossroads of the world of online betting and crypto-currency, it is on this same model that the French start-up YESorNO is launching today, created by the serial entrepreneur Gilles Feingold and in particular Pierre Klein, former manager of Betclic France.

A young target market (63% of consumers are between 18 and 35 years old), with solid growth for 10 years, but characterized by value propositions that are not very innovative, the betting sector weighs more than 40% of the market every year gambling in France (against casinos, lotteries, poker, and other games).

YESorNO's bet (it's the case…) is to open a new "Blue Ocean" in the sector in France and around the world, with a service located at the crossroads of mobile games and traditional bets. With "decentralized bets" whose technological base uses the Blockchain, YESorNO appears to be the only one capable of offering total freedom on the theme of bets, a significant distribution of winnings and a sophisticated bonus system based on the proprietary token used in the mechanics of the game. All with an ultra simple user interface, bets with only two answers (YES or NO) which boil down to 49 characters. This “Twitter of decentralized betting based on crypto-currencies” is also based on an innovation concerning its business model, by allowing the sponsorship of bets created to measure for advertisers who pay by the number of displays.

Online betting has exploded since it was opened up to competition. On the sidelines of sports betting, YESorNO has rushed into the breach...

Evolution of sports betting since their opening to competition

The idea seems simple, but it requires a straight technical realization and an impeccable mastery of the rules of use of the target audience it addresses (18-35 year olds).

And on this point, YESorNO seems on the way to winning its bet because the figures speak for themselves: already more than 100,000 subscribers, more than 21 million bets played by members, and a rating of 4, 7/5 with almost 4500 reviews on iOS and Android.

It is in this context that the start-up launched its fundraising in the blockchain during the summer, having already raised around one million euros as part of its ICO (Initial Coin Offering: fundraising funds based on crypto-currencies).

We interviewed Pierre Klein to find out more, particularly with regard to the legal aspect of his project, the paid games and betting sector being highly regulated both in France and at European level...

Interview Pierre Klein – co-founder and CIO of YESorNO

A few figures to introduce yourself:

Age: 59

From: Colmar

Graduated from: Harvard

Launch date of the industrial project: May 2019

1_ The legal framework for online betting is very strict and requires being approved as an operator for sports betting, for example. How are you going to manage this aspect?

Our approach to arriving in the different countries will be based on 2 parameters:

– the existing appetite for betting

– the legal framework

Concerning the 2nd point, apart from China, which is starting to veto cryptos, no country has clearly positioned itself on a ban on gambling on crypto, and more particularly on bets within the meaning broad of the term. This is actually not an issue at all, because it is considered a “micro market”. Legislation as tight as that of France had for a long time been restricted to assimilating gambling to horse racing, sport and poker. Then reflections emerged around private bets or the blockchain, but without being able to determine precise laws, no actor being positioned, so there was no point in laying down laws that would not respond to any practical case. This is where we want to position ourselves, because in reality, nothing can prevent betting on what you want and with the financial means you want. We are therefore in a "grey" zone, which we consider to be a Pandora's box, and which only asks to be opened by a 1st future leader, as Uber did in its time by opening up the VTC market. . Each country will then have its subtleties, but the market is huge and we intend to move forward internationally in phases. First in the “most welcoming” countries, then the others, which will not be able to prevent the bandwagon and its crypto addicts and supporters from advancing.

2_ How did you discover crypto-assets and the blockchain?

It's been almost 8 years now, because I'm always curious about innovations, and this one seemed like an amazing one. The precursors were already talking about a parallel economy, a questioning of central banks and management methods for the entire economy, of new processes based on a decentralized approach and therefore by definition opposed to almost everything that existed. In short, something to challenge! And when we initiated our project, we therefore decided to target the blockchain, but once we had done our tests based on a totally free approach and with a virtual currency. We are ready today.

3_ What is the duration of bets on your platform?

The duration of the bets is 6 hours on the beta version because we wanted to test mainly the daily use and the retention of our users in a 1st time when we were in a free mode. With our blockchain version, bets can last longer since the “stake” and “gain” factors will be the most predominant in use, therefore necessarily adapted to the different possible bets.

4_ What about access to data, especially concerning players, tracked because playing from their mobile?

The betting data will only be used for advertising targeting directly on the application, in no case outside or for resale. Nothing will be done without the agreement of the users, knowing that our advertisements will be in native mode (in the form of bets through which we can also earn tokens), so this should amuse the users of our platform more than disturb them…

5_ Can we still invest in your project?

Yes because we are in the middle of an ICO, as part of a public sale now, and this for at most 2 months. The interest today being that the project has passed through the hands of all professionals in this type of investment, and apparently, it seems coherent to them.

6_ Any final words?

This is the project that each of the members of the founding team aims to crown their professional life, so ambitious and achievable is it. We all have the feeling that we are arriving at precisely the right time, with the right product, and that everywhere in the world. The explanations of our belief are available on our various documents, accessible on our dedicated site: www.yesorno.bet

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