Decentralized gambling platform Virtue Poker has raised $5 million in a strategic investment round.

• Ethereum-based Virtue Poker plans to conduct an initial DEX offering (IDO) ahead of its mainnet launch in May, the startup announced Monday.
• The project was incubated by blockchain developer ConsenSys and counts Pantera Capital and DFG Group among its backers.
• Virtue Poker claims to be the only blockchain-based company to be licensed by the Malta's gambling regulator.
• The platform aims to use smart contracts and sidechain infrastructure to bring greater transparency to online gambling with regard to withdrawals and other functions.
• According to ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin, Virtue Poker “legitimizes the use of this technology in the industry.”
• "I've been working with the Virtue Poker team for nearly three years, watching them build a next-generation poker platform," poker pro Phil Ivey said in a press release.
• It’s among a crop of startups exploring gambling use cases on the blockchain, including a casino in Decentraland hiring real-life workers to staff virtual tables.