Crypto Gambling
The phenomenon of bitcoin casinos has been fascinating. With the rise of bitcoin, it is no wonder that bitcoin is accepted as a form of currency in these casinos.
Cryptocurrency casinos are the new way to gamble online. With bitcoin, you can be sure that your money is safe and secure. You can also enjoy anonymous gambling.
Traditional casino games require players to place real money bets with fiat currency.
If you’re prepared to gamble, you must be prepared to win or lose, so what difference does it make whether you are using fiat currency or cryptocurrency? There is s big difference.
Ilias Louis Hatzis is the founder and CEO of Kryptonio wallet.
Gambling, as we all know, is in itself a very big business. Cryptocurrency brings the much-missed freedom from geopolitical regulations and legalities into the online gambling space and crypto gambling has become the obvious next big thing.
A blockchain-based game is a type of gaming that allows players to have full control and ownership of assets that can then be traded with other players for crypto, NFTs, and other forms of virtual assets.
Players are already looking for the best possible online bitcoin casino. Developers have been building a number of blockchain-based games, and it would not be a surprise if we saw more of these platforms over the course of the year.
The gambling industry first came in contact with cryptocurrencies all the way back in 2011 at switchpoker.com and satoshidice.com, relatively unknown platforms at the time.
Eleven years later, crypto gambling numbers hundreds, if not thousands, of gaming platforms.
The reason digital currencies are very much sought after by online casinos because of the improvement in security and safety. By dealing in crypto, online transactions can rely on the security of blockchain technology.
Online crypto betting can be divided into two categories:
- Centralized platforms — platforms that are centrally managed and not based on blockchain technology. They might accept cryptocurrencies as deposits or offer payouts in the form of cryptocurrencies.
- Decentralized platforms — platforms that are built with open source code and utilize the benefits of decentralized blockchain technology.
There are three types of decentralized platforms:
- Platforms that focus on sports and /or esports betting.
- Platforms that focus on market prediction, i.e. players can bet on anything from sports to politics to weather to prices of financial assets.
- Platforms that are made for developers to build their own customized betting/prediction dApps.
Decentralized blockchain technology has several important characteristics that can bring revolutionary change to the existing betting industry:
- Transparency — Code is 100% open source and can be viewed on Github. This enables anybody to examine the code. Funds are stored in public blockchain wallets and payments can be tracked on a block explorer.
- Trustless — Participants do not have to trust a central authority, payouts are guaranteed by smart contracts.
- Peer to peer — Participants bet against other players directly, without the need of a central operator.
- Permissionless — Anyone from anywhere in the world can be a market creator and/or a bettor. They can bet on anything such as sports, weather, politics, asset prices, etc.
- Decentralization — This removes central operators, which leads to lower fees due to reduced operating costs. Thus, the platform can offer better margins for players, fairer games and better chances for players to win.
Transactions are fully anonymous, secure, and are not dependent central banks, intermediaries, or any other third parties.
At a Bitcoin casino, you can simply use your mined or purchased bitcoin, transfer value to the online casino’s wallet address, and play real-money casino games with no identifying criteria other than your bitcoin wallet address.
The anonymity component of bitcoin casinos is its trump card.
Think of casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Macau, or even a traditional online casino. All of these venues require players to peovide sensitive information during the registration process. Why? Age verification is needed to make sure that the player is at least 18 years of age, or 21 in the US. Users need to present ID documents, utility bills, banking information, or even a passport, depending on where they play.
Bitcoin casinos avoid all of these issues by requiring only that users deposit funds from their bitcoin wallet into the online casino’s account.
Users don’t need to use their real name or address. It’s that simple.
Cryptocurrency online gambling and eSports are expected to maintain steady growth in the upcoming years, with eSports expected to hit $646 million by 2023.
According to “Global Online Gambling Market (2020-2025) by Games, Device, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis”, the online gambling market is estimated to reach USD 97.69 billion by 2025, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.31%.
The U.S. market has seen a rise of 536.96% in crypto gambling users, 615.09% in the U.K., 490% in India, 748.98% in Canada, and a staggering 1021.43% in Germany, making it the leader of the pack.
From the company that brought us Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong comes one of the biggest news in the industry. ATARI launched its proprietary cryptocurrency, which can be used to play at dedicated online casinos.
Another notable entry into the market is Sportsbet.io, operated by Coingaming Group. The brand partnered with Arsenal and also sponsored Watford and Southampton from the Premier League.
Other crypto casinos, such as stake.com, are also following this lead and landed a sponsorship deal to display their brand at UFC in 2021. Bethereum is an online open-source betting platform for sports, esports, and games. It is built on Ethereum with its own native token Bether used for transactions on the platform, and as rewards and commission to third-party developers and partners.
When it comes to what crypto is used to bet, bitcoin is king. Most of the mobile crypto gambling is happening on the bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin has the biggest share in the market, with 78.5% of all transactions, followed by Ethereum with just 9%, but growing steadily as well.
Crypto gambling is here to stay.
Legislation will be changing as sportsbooks further invest in the use of blockchain technology and its potential for the sports betting industry.
Overall, there are about 80 countries that have legalized online gambling, and Europe has the largest online gambling market in the world. In the US, three states (Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey) already allow online gambling, and it is expected that more are going to follow with similar regulations, allowing this market to grow even more.
Bitcoin casinos are the future, and they are a great place to play. Crypto gambling is certainly on the rise at the moment, with both industries experiencing big growth. These platforms offer a safe and fun way for players who want to wager on games such as casino blackjack and slots. The winning odds are determined by the blockchain technology that is used in these casinos.
While it could be argued that crypto and gambling are both exclusive of each other, they can both have a major impact on the other, too.
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