500.com is an online sports lottery provider based in China that recently revealed a huge loss in the last quarter of 2020. The company reported a net loss of $8.6 million in the quarter ending on December 31, 2020. This was an improvement, however, from the $50 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2019. The difference was contributed to lower operating costs and no previous impairment provisions.

Details of the Quarter

The company saw a small increase in net revenues during the fourth quarter, up 4.7% with $1.4 million in earnings. This amount includes a revenue contribution of $868,000 from the online lottery betting and online casino services offered via Europethrough TMG.

The total net revenues mainly came from Europe, with just over 62% produced from the region. Sports information services offered in China were also boosted slightly to $93,000.

New Plans for the Company

Recently, 500.com provided details on upcoming plans for the company. Blockchain opportunities are to be explored along with additional cryptocurrency industries. This will be done via the interest held by the company within Loto Interactive Limited.

The business arms of Loto Interactive include data analysis and storage options along with money lending and mobile gaming distribution. 500.com is also busy with a purchase agreement to take on 5,900 bitcoin mining machines.

The cost of this deal comes in at $8.6 million. The machines are expected to be in by the second quarter of this year. Another 10,000 mining machines will be acquired by the company later on this year, which will bring its machine total to just under 16,000.