Cryptocurrencies and the online gambling industry

Online gambling and cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency, no doubt, is the new revolution in the financial and top online casino industry.

A brief introduction

Bitcoin, The world’s first virtual coin, unsurprisingly the most popular, was first introduced about a decade ago. The idea conceived by the founding father is to create a decentralized means of making instant payments and sending money all over the world. About ten years later, what cryptocurrency has been able to achieve is staggering. The Bitcoin itself now boats an estimated market capitalization of over $191 billion.

What’s the place of cryptocurrencies in the online gambling industry?

Although virtual coins appear to be more famous for their intrinsic value rather than as a means of making payment, Bitcoin and many other coins have their use cases. The online casino industry is one of the industries that have benefitted from cryptocurrencies. Or maybe, cryptocurrencies have benefitted from the online gambling industry - even some of the best online slots south africa are crypto currency based. Analysts believe that the next important step in the cryptocurrency revolution is the wide acceptance to make payment. It can sustain the demand for these virtual coins, and without it, they may lose their relevance. Satoshi Dice appears to be the most popular platform that adopts cryptocurrencies, and at a point, it was responsible for over 50% of all Bitcoin transactions.

Other cryptocurrencies in the online gambling industry

Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Monero, Litecoin and Ripple.

What are the potential advantages of a massive adoption?

  • For gamblers, the anonymity that accompanies cryptocurrency transactions is a great advantage. You do not need to reveal personal information to strangers before making payments or receiving payments from them.
  • Some banks have unnecessarily stringent rules about sending money to or receiving from online casinos. Adopting cryptocurrencies means such banks can be easily bypassed.
  • Transactions on cryptocurrency blockchains are transparent and non-erasable. This could significantly reduce the incidence of scams through fraudulent transactions.
  • In the absence of a third party, transactions could be much faster, and there would be lower transaction fees.
  • The transactions can be done 24/7 and are expected to be instant.

What are the potential shortcomings?

  • The value of cryptocurrency is unpredictable. There could be rash falls or rises in the value of virtual coins, and this instability may not always be to the advantage of gamblers
  • The unpredictability further extends to the stand of governments on cryptocurrencies. Many governments do not have a known stand yet, and some may wake up and place stringent restrictions on virtual coins. The UK government, for example, has banned all online casinos from accepting cryptocurrency as a means of making payments.
  • The anonymity of cryptocurrencies is a double-edged sword. While it prevents gamblers from revealing personal information, it also means that online casinos do not know anything about the player. The source of income is unknown, and money launderers and other financial criminals could use this to their advantage.
  • Though many cryptocurrencies, exchanges, and wallets boast impressive security on their networks, the possibility of a cyber-attack can never be eliminated from any digital platform.