The company flagged to help develop and build Macau’s first floating hotel and casino – The Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel – has revealed that it never managed to sign a final contract for the ambitious project with operator Dragon Corp.
As revealed by Macau News Agency this week, Norway’s Brova Idea AS, a company that specializes in floating structures, says it was contacted by Dragon Coin representatives to help build the proposed US$300 million floating casino but was forced to terminate any involvement in November 2017 after multiple false starts and failure to secure initial payment.
The Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel was first announced by Dragon Corp last year with funds to be raised by an initial coin offering (ICO) of its cryptocurrency, Dragon Coin, in November 2017. It was reported earlier this year that the ICO had raised US$407 million.
However, any real progress on the casino project remains in limbo with little noise being heard from Dragon Corp executives in the months since.
According to Brova Idea Chairman Milo Andric, negotiations between his company and Dragon Corp began in August 2017 but were hindered by constant changes to the contract and ongoing delays over initial payment.
He also described an unusual circumstance at the opening ceremony of Dragon Coin on 22 September 2017 in Hong Kong.
“They asked me to sign a contract during the event on stage but I refused, saying I could only sign a contract after seeing and reading it, so we signed a pro forma contract on the stage. Afterwards, they said they would provide the final contract but it never materialized,” Andric told Macau News Agency.
Dragon Corp CEO Chakrit Ahmad told Reuters in Decmeber that the company had partnered with four junket operators who had committed US$265 million of the money raised in its ICO via private sale.
He also explained that the company’s business model revolved around the use of blockchain technology in order to reduce costs associated with standard credit processes associated with Macau’s junkets. According to Dragon Corp’s plan, clients at The Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel would gamble using Dragon Coin.
“We provide a better, more convenient and more cost-effective solution for them,” Ahmad said at the time.
“If they want to exchange their winnings into flat currency and then carry it themselves, they are free to do so. But the likelihood is they will revert back to digital currencies.”
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