Inside Look: The effect that cryptocurrency is having on the gambling industry

Published on the 2021-03-16

Over the last decade, the fintech industry has exploded and as a result of this, has led to the creation of digital currencies. While at one point this was thought of as somewhat of a ‘bubble’ in some circles, which commonly referred to the only digital currency at the time; Bitcoin, it has gradually proved a lot of skeptics wrong, especially in the last four to five years.

This is especially the case when you now look at the vast amount of digital currencies that are now available - not just Bitcoin, but also other ones that have become increasingly popular such as Ethereum which have gained a lot of momentum.

Because of this surge in popularity, it has led to other industries starting to take this surge seriously, as they have come to realise the enormous value that incorporating digital currency into their services has for not just customers, but also themselves as well.

While there is a lot to be said for digital currencies, there are still a lot of people who do not fully understand what they or what they do, while for many millions, it is just too hard to comprehend. 

However, this is understandable. What started off as an experiment by one as yet unidentified person who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, with his location still understood to be unknown.

The price of Bitcoin reached an all-time high in early February at USD $34,000 and as a result of this, those who are in the know and trade it on a regular basis find ways that they can enjoy it to the maximum.

As a result of its huge rise in popularity, a number of business sectors have now started to realise the potential of this, and as a result, have incorporated it into their offering. The latest industry to do this is the online gambling industry, who it could be argued are quite late to the party. Both of these industries arguably experienced all-time growth spurts during a similar period (the last five to six years), so there is some astonishment why the online gambling industry did not start to incorporate this two years ago when it looked increasingly obvious that this was here to stay.

Now, virtually every online operator offers cryptocurrency as a form of deposit and withdrawal option, due to the ever increasing volume of players who switch to online gambling as an outlet to try and add even more value to their cryptocurrency horde.
Benefits to players who use cryptocurrency in the online gambling industry
Like everything here, timing is everything. The fact is that, when the cryptocurrency market is in your favour, the advantages to players who use this as a form of deposit method are significant and it can result in the value increasing substantially immediately upon withdrawal.

For example, if you deposit £10 worth of Bitcoin on a particular day at an online casino and you start playing a jackpot slot, such as Hall of Gods, you do not necessarily need to win big (the jackpot), in order to gain a substantial financial advantage. Let’s say, of the £10 that you deposit (which might be worth 20 Bitcoins), you spend £5 over 25 spins and find yourself with a bankroll of £25 having won £20 (which is entirely possible), giving you a net profit of £20 overall.

At this point, it might be wise to check the value of Bitcoin. This is because the market is arguably one of the fastest growing and most volatile in the world and it is not unusual to see the value of the currency increase by 80 percent within an hour. A potentially wise decision in this scenario would be to withdraw your bankroll as Bitcoin and not only have you made a profit in sterling at the casino but also, the dramatic increase in the value of the currency that will have catapulted your profits considerably.

Now, when you withdraw £25, instead of it being worth 50 Bitcoins as it would be if the currency had stayed at its previous rate - that 80 percent increase would give you 90 Bitcoins, which if you then decided to convert back into Sterling, this is then worth a total of £45, meaning that you have just made a further £20 profit, all because you decided to deposit with Bitcoin and the market increased in such a small space of time. This is one of the reasons why cryptocurrency is so attractive to those who are in the know, especially people who realise that they can use the online gambling industry to their advantage in order to increase their profits further.  

Let’s look at other advantages to players of using cryptocurrency in the gambling industry which may explain the effect that this is having.

It is Decentralised

Arguably one of the biggest advantages to players is that because the cryptocurrency industry is decentralised, it means that your account cannot be frozen or your funds be taken away from you. This makes the online gambling industry a perfect solution for savvy cryptocurrency traders due to the absence of a regulatory body.

Security

Benefiting from extreme security, this means that your payment information cannot be breached in any way. Cryptocurrency transactions do not require you to provide any of your personal data which means that you are protected significantly from having your sensitive details and identity stolen.

Instant

While every payment method used for online gambling has instant deposits, it is often the case that with regards to withdrawals, it can take up to six days. With cryptocurrencies, withdrawals are instant and as a result, of this, many players are making use of this for their online gambling experience. 

Is cryptocurrency here to stay in the online gambling industry?

As technology continues to improve at an enormous rate, as well as the popularity of cryptocurrency in the industry so far, the signs for the future are encouraging. What will likely be the case is that we will see more online casinos that cater only to cryptocurrencies and based on the latest trends, it may not come as a surprise to see these even overtake some of the biggest on gambling brands.

When you factor in the growth of new markets in the online gambling industry, as well, such as the ever expanding US market, where cryptocurrency is considerably popular, we could see this being the number one market for crypto online casinos in years to come.

Without a doubt, the attractions are certainly there for players who are keen to study the cryptocurrency market, but also combine this with their online gambling experience, due to the huge potential profits that they can make, dictated by the highly volatile crypto markets