SatoshiDice is a gambling website which uses the digital currency bitcoin. In 2012, SatoshiDice was the leading bitcoin gambling site in terms of amount wagered.
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On 18 July 2013, Erik Voorhees announced that SatoshiDice had been sold for 126,315 BTC, or US$12.4 million at the time of the announcement.
Background
SatoshiDice launched in April 2012. As of January 2013, it had taken in approximately $15 million in bets. During 2012, SatoshiDice reported profits of over $500,000 in US dollars. However, in May 2013, SatoshiDice moved to block all US-based IP addresses, citing potential legal issues. In 2013 Satoshi Dice's servers were based in Dublin, Ireland.
Name origin
The term satoshi, named after Satoshi Nakamoto, refers to the smallest unit of bitcoin, with value of 0.00000001 BTC. For certain transactions, the loser of a bet is paid "1 satoshi".
Offering
In August 2012, Erik Voorhees, founder of SatoshiDice, launched a "prospectus" for SatoshiDice, aiming to attract investors. The offering was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and was conducted in bitcoin through the website MPEx, based in Romania. SatoshiDice was described as an "unregistered corporation" represented by Voorhees, with the investment agreement stating that it may "not be modified by third parties, irrespective if said parties should style themselves "court of law", "judge" or otherwise". As of January 2013, SatoshiDice shares were valued at $8.9 million.
In June 2014, Erik Voorhees was charged by the SEC over offering unregistered securities including SatoshiDICE and FeedZeBirds. Voorhees conducted a share buyback in addition to paying over $50,000 in penalties.
Satoshi Dice Tribute, Classic, legacy and Session Game
On October 31, 2013 the SatoshiDice Tribute game was launched, only to be shut down a month later after being plagued by slow performance, DDos attacks and other user-related issues. As of 2015, both the classic blockchain based game and a session game where players keep a balance at the site are available. A possibility for players to use their balance as part of the house bankroll was added in 2015.