UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) issues notice against this NFT platform’s unregistered status

After cracking down on cryptocurrencies, UK regulators are now coming for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has issued a notice against the French NFT start-up, Sorare, stating that the platform is operating without a UK gambling license. While UKGC has not taken any legal action against Sorare, yet in its ‘consumer information notice’, the Birmingham-based regulator alerted the consumers to reconsider and decide ‘whether or not to interact with the site’.

“This means that any activity completed on the site by consumers in Great Britain is outside of the gambling regulations that a licensed operator should comply with.”, the Gambling Commission stated.

Furthermore, UKGC has not decided whether Sorare’s activities equate to gambling and if the platform needs to acquire an operating license from the commission. Sorare is popular for providing a platform to participate in fantasy football tournaments with NFTs, where players can buy, sell, trade, and manage a virtual team with their digital player cards.

UKGC noted that they are, “currently carrying out enquiries into the company to establish whether Sorare.com requires an operating license or whether the services it provides do not constitute gambling.”

Sorare & LaLiga NFT partnership

Sorare was in news last month for its partnership with one of Spanish soccer’s top leagues, LaLiga. LaLiga and Sorare have signed a long-term deal to mint NFTs of all its individual players. Under this partnership agreement, LaLiga’s top players, such as Atlético Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior and FC Barcelona’s Pedri displayed their tokenized versions.

LaLiga’s league president stated that the partnership “enables us to reach new audiences globally and gives existing fans additional ways they can get involved with the players and the clubs they love.” Furthermore, in a separate interview, Nicolas Julia, Sorare’s CEO, and co-founder told CNBC that, “Today is a huge milestone for us because it’s the first top five league joining the platform,”.