What Is Ethorse?
As stated, Ethorse is a DAPP (decentralized app) made to help people bet on the price of currencies. It’s built as an Ethereum smart contract, which essentially means it’s worked into the Ethereum blockchain in a way that ensures bets and transactions are fulfilled exactly as they ought to be, without manipulation or question.
Stylistically, the platform is based on the idea of “horse race” betting, which is a phrase used for the simplest kind of bet: who will win a race in a given amount of time?
You may have heard the phrase used to describe how pundits follow political elections, for instance, not looking at odds or trends, but simply which politician appears to be “ahead” or closer to winning the race.
In this case, horse race betting is applied to a grouping of cryptocurrencies, such that people can bet on which one will perform best over a set period of time.
How Does It Work?
People participating in Ethorse betting will need to download the Metamaks plugin for Chrome or Firefox, or else use the default Ethereum browser, Mist. Once on those platforms, you will be able to see when a new “race” is announced, which is to say a new contract will be set up on the blockchain.
Then your only job is to choose whichever cryptocurrency in the race you think will rise the highest in price in the given time, and bet a given amount of ETH on it.
During the betting period, Ethorse posts lives stats (prices, how many people are betting, odds, etc.), and once the race is over winners have a set amount of time during which to claim winnings.
It’s really about that simple – in fact, you don’t even need to sign up or make an account to participate.
Is It Legal?
In a word, yes. Cryptocurrency is subject to various regulations in different parts of the world, and it’s probable that in at least a few countries Ethorse is inaccessible, frowned upon, or will be outlawed.
Broadly speaking however, crypto regulation remains light. Major markets like the U.S. and UK take a laissez faire attitude toward crypto applications, and the story is the same throughout much of Europe and the rest of the world.
Furthermore, while some might wonder about the legitimacy of something set up as a “betting” operation, this doesn’t appear to have caused any problems yet. It would appear that Ethorse’s “horse races” are close enough to investing or currency trading that they’re not scrutinized as betting or gambling activities.
Are HORSE Tokens Valuable?
If you look into Ethorse, you’ll start to read about HORSE tokens, and you can almost mistake them for the currency that the whole operation runs on. This, however, is not the case. HORSE tokens are basically digital tokens you can earn by investing in HORSE.
The benefit is that 5% of takeout from all betting pools goes to token holders, with those owning the most tokens receiving the largest proportion.
Additionally, those who hold HORSE tokens are able to vote on different features of the games or races, and thus have a say in Ethorse’s development. So yes, HORSE tokens can be valuable and useful, though you shouldn’t mistake them directly for the cryptocurrency you can win in a successful Ethorse bet.
Pros & Cons
Pros: Ethorse makes betting transparent and easy to follow via the blockchain. It’s a simple and natural betting game that allows for a different mode of cryptocurrency trading. You don’t have to set up an account, and the tokens are a fun wrinkle.
Cons: Limitations on browsers you can use to participate can be frustrating.
Long Term Potential
While the Ethorse concept is no doubt an interesting one, the market is really competitive. There are already a large number of competitors that already have blockchain betting projects. These include prediction market places such as Augur and other general betting applications such as Bethereum.
However, Ethorse offers a dApp which is really simple to use and which ideal for new cryptocurrency users. One can bet on the movements of cryptocurrency prices in a really intuitive way.
Bottom Line
We would encourage you to do your own research, but the use case is most definitely there. As more people decide to participate in cryptocurrency betting they are likely to gravitate to the easiest option. This could provide further upside for the tokens.
