Although the full list of candidates for next year's presidential election is not yet known, the police have already shut down a gambling website that offered people the chance to bet on presidential candidates. People could place bets on Tsai Ing-wen, William Lai, Han Kuo-yu, Eric Chu, Ko Wen-je, and even Chinese leader Xi Jinping.


Taiwan's next presidential election will take place in 2020, and it is expected to be hotly contested. Recently, the police shut down a gambling website that offered netizens prizes if they managed to correctly guess the next president. The website was operated by a New Taipei City resident and engineer who previously worked in the IT industry. People could place bets using the cryptocurrency EOS, and those who correctly guessed the winner would receive cryptocurrency as their winnings. The website went online on Mar. 29. It was shut down by the police on Apr. 2.

Those who wanted to place bets first had to apply to download an app and have EOS currency. They could then go to the website and place their bets on their preferred candidate.

Many gambling websites now use blockchain technology, as it is decentralized and anonymous. This also allows them to "recognize currencies, not people," thereby avoiding police scrutiny. The presidential candidates this website allowed people to bet on included Tsai Ing-wen, William Lai, Han Kuo-yu, Eric Chu, Ko Wen-je, and even Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Honhai Precision Industry Company chairperson Terry Gou. As the website was only online for five days, only the equivalent of NT$ 5,280 had been bet. This was much lower than the cost of establishing and operating the website, which totaled over NT$ 100,000.

We seized the computers, displays, modems, and mobile phones used to set up the website at the scene, as well as the virtual wallet account used for the gambling.

The official election campaign period has not yet started, but the police have already discovered the first presidential election gambling website. The case will be transferred to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office for investigation, and the suspect is expected to be charged with offenses of gambling in accordance with Article 268 of the Criminal Code.



看準2020總統大選競爭激烈，新北市一名從資訊公司離職的工程師，架設非法賭博網站，標題寫著「猜總統、拿獎金」，實質為選舉賭盤，而且賭的不是現金，而是利用區塊鏈的虛擬貨幣「EOS」下注，約定選舉結束後，投注給正確當選人的玩家，可獲得虛擬貨幣當報酬，不過網站3月29號上線，4月2號就被警方查獲。

刑事局偵九大隊大隊長 林建隆表示：「要下注的人必須要先申請下載一個APP，從這裡面，他必須有EOS貨幣，再到網站的投注畫面，針對他想要投注的人選去做下注。」

賭盤手法新興，區塊鏈有「去中心化」和匿名等特性，賭博網站「認幣不認人」，企圖閃避警方追查金流。而名單上除了有蔡英文、賴清德、韓國瑜、朱立倫、柯文哲，還出現了中國國家主席習近平和鴻海董事長郭台銘。由於網站上線短短五天，因此投注金額換算台幣約5280元，遠不及網站架設10萬元以上的機房成本。

刑事局偵九大隊大隊長 林建隆表示：「現場查扣了架設賭博網站，所使用的電腦、螢幕、數據機、以及手機，還有他做為賭博帳戶的虛擬錢包的帳戶。」

選戰還沒正式開打，警方已破獲2020總統大選的首宗賭博網站，並依據刑法第268條賭博罪，將工程師移送士林地檢署偵辦。