This gambling tycoon builds $100m bitcoin-funded resort in Antigua and Barbuda

This gambling magnate will build a $100m bitcoin-funded Antiguan resort, says report.

Gambling tycoon named Calvin Ayre says the project will be entirely funded from digital currency profits.

Calvin Ayre, a gambling and bitcoin multi-millionaire who was once on the run from the US authorities, is building a $100m five-star resort on Antigua funded by profits from digital currencies.

Ayre was also an appointed Antigua and Barbuda’s special economic envoy, said he had begun work on the upmarket tourist resort on Antigua’s Valley Church beach.

Last year, Ayre was pleaded guilty to a single federal misdemeanor after a decade on the run from the US investigators.

He said the Ayre Resort would be entirely funded by profits made from the rise in value of bitcoin in which he was an early investor.

The leader of Antigua and Barbuda welcomes the new development in their country and saying it would help to boost its tourism industry.

“We expect the resort’s novel and exciting concept to broaden Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism product and bring a new category of tourists to our islands. We look forward to working with Mr Ayre on this resort and the many other investments he has made in Antigua,” Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

“This resort will attract a totally new market segment of tourism on the island — successful wellness-seekers who also want to have fun. The property will not be an all-inclusive destination. Instead, its amenities will be available to residents of Antigua and Barbuda and visitors alike,” Ayre remarked.

The resort will accept bitcoin cash, which forked from bitcoin last year, at point of sale terminals on the property and through its online booking engine.

Ayre has a reputable image in Antigua and enjoys the “His Excellency” address in his name.