The Isle of Man has proposed allowing its online gambling licensees – including Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand – to accept virtual currencies like Bitcoin as part of their menu of deposit options.

On April 20, the Isle of Man’s Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) released a document detailing a number of proposed secondary legislative changes approved by both the GSC board and the Isle of Man Treasury. Stakeholders will have until May 20 to comment on the proposals.

The Gambling Regulation Package 2016 (viewable here) involves six proposed changes, including allowing sub-licensees to use more of a licensee’s “back office” non-gaming functions, allowing the GSC to accept test certificates from other licensing jurisdictions and allowing punters a wider range of elective controls over their gambling activity.

The GSC also wants to allow its licensees to be able to accept deposits made in convertible virtual currencies (CVCs). In 2014, the GSC considered whether to permit its licensees to accept CVC deposits but the Department of Economic Development (DED) determined that crytocurrencies such as Bitcoin were more akin to property than currency