A very interesting ICO, however the valuation you are putting on the website is ludicrous. You are essentially saying the company is worth the amount of profit earned lifetime, ~7000 bitcoin, which is a bit insane. Dean has been talking about adding sports betting and a casino for a couple years now, and each time they've popped up, they've gotten extremely low traffic and/or they did not function properly. Would this change with better software and better marketing? Yes. However, this also means we have to put our trust as investors into a pie in the sky promise that you have contacts in the industry who can drive the company to another level and finally get a foothold in the bitcoin gambling industry. But I have seen no proof, despite past promises, that this is going to happen. We need more than 'I know a lot of contacts'. We need a portfolio, a well thought out business plan, and more info on these supposed experts you know so we can get a more accurate picture for how you are going to turn investor's money into a casino and marketing machine that actually has a chance at significant market share outside of the Dice market.
You need to lay out exactly what this 2000 bitcoin is going towards.
I think an important question is, why would any contacts or software developer you know want to help build you a casino platform that's worth a damn if you they aren't going to have any equity in the business? Why wouldn't they just build it on their own?
Imagine you walked into Shark Tank and you told Mark Cuban 'I want 1.5 million dollars (2000 btc) for you to invest in 30% of my company. I've shown success in this other market, but this new market I've never been in and I don't know yet exactly what we're going to do, but I know a lot of people in the industry, trust me'. You'd be laughed off the show.
It is also important to note that 1 bitcoin earned 2 years ago is not equal to 1 bitcoin earned today. Back then, the price was about $250, and now its at $750. Even 6 months ago, the price of bitcoin was about 60% of what it is now. A huge chunk of the profit came from those time periods. Bitcoin is at, basically, an all time high. I get the thought process from your perspective, although I think it is misguided. You've tried to sell Betking at least 2 other points in the past year that I can remember, but the problem is almost all of Betking's value stems from the bitcoin community's trust in Dean. The brand and software has very little value in my opinion - that's why no one ever offers anything close to what Dean feels Betking is worth (apparently 7000 btc).
All of this is potentially moot however, because at the end of the day a company is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I seriously doubt this ICO is going to work, considering from what I read in Dean's previous attempt to sell Betking less than a month ago the top bid was 1500 bitcoin for 100% of the company, unless someone offered more and he did not reveal it publicly. How he gets the idea that his top offer was 1500 bitcoin for 100% of the company and in turn starts this ICO 2 weeks later trying to sell 30% for an even larger bitcoin amount than what the top investor offered him for 100% doesn't really make much sense.
Dean's problem in this situation is the only truly valuable commodity in his business is himself as someone who is trusted. That is worth a lot of money. However, all these attempts to sell the whole, or parts, of the company are going to come up short because Dean obviously disagrees with my assessment of the value of his website/software. Dean should eventually just take Betking private and get all the profits himself. It would provide a steady, healthy income for years. Build a new casino/sports betting platform without the investors. Like you said, you are taking in 50% of the profits for a site you believe is worth 5 million dollars and has basically zero operating cost.
A massive problem as well is investors are likely never going to get their investment back+profit, because the only scenario where they do is if Dean decides to sell the company in the future. The problem with that is, Dean is the value of this company. If he doesn't come in the package, no one is paying 7000 bitcoin for this site at the current USD/btc value. Sure, you could sell your shares to other interested buyers, but that will be the only market there is for your shares. You will be relying on dividends to make you money, and this does not have a great outlook if you look at the past few months of wagering on Betking.
The past week, there has been ~670 btc wagered on Betking. That is an expected profit of 6.7 btc/week, or $5,000 per week. $260,000 a year. Or, 19 years to make the $5 million dollars the Dean values his website at.
Also important to look at is how far above EV Betking has been running for Dice. Selling for the actual profit amount is actually quite disingenuous, because Betking could just as easily be at 0 profit as it is at 7000 btc profit. The EV number is the only one that truly matters.
At a much more reasonable ICO price, I would've been very intrigued by investing in Betking/Dean. However, the price is absolutely bonkers.
Regardless, best of luck.
This was one of the best post I have seen on this forum, Sure it is strongly against the idea of this thread, I don't think it should have been deleted.
I was really looking forward to a response from Dean about the negative points raised in this post, When I found it to be deleted I was outraged that the last good bitcoin casino has resorted to the practice of the rest.
EDIT: The quoted text that was deleted was posted by chazley
