Though they are completely separate, it’s easy to see parallels between the rise of online gambling and that of cryptocurrencies. Both have come from nowhere to become global phenomena in just a few years, thanks to online technologies.
Online gambling came first, of course, and was built to work using traditional currencies and digital deposit methods. While this quickly became easy and convenient to do, it has always come with some disadvantages and risks.
Balancing security from fraud or hackers with speed of service has proven to be a difficult task for many providers. The more security checks put in place, the slower and more frustrating the deposit or withdrawal experience can be.
Cryptocurrency is, by its very essence, a secure and speedy way to make digital financial transactions. In this way, it’s a perfect fit for online gambling sites and many providers have been quick to adapt.
As Bitcoin and other leading currencies have given legitimacy to crypto, confidence in using and accepting it has grown. Today, cryptocurrency online gambling is a booming sector in the $500 billion global gambling industry.
Players are drawn to the anonymity, security, transparency, and efficiency of using cryptocurrency for their online gambling. Blockchain technology protects personal data while exposing the operational data of the online provider.
As a decentralised, unregulated system of currency, payments using crypto are completely anonymous. This means no bank details, or even ID, need to be given when making a deposit, unless to verify age.
On the other hand, the nature of blockchain means all transactions and payouts are recorded and viewable. This allows users to verify the legitimacy of a provider, and prove they are paying out the percentages they claim.
In an industry traditionally plagued by a lack of trust from the user, these factors are a huge advantage. It has tipped the balance of informational power into the hands of users, taking security to an all-time high.
Who can you trust?
All this, however, does not mean online gambling has become completely safe in all instances. There will always be unlicensed and unregistered providers, who users need to be wary of, in any online industry.
There are, however, particularly in the online casino sector, many legitimate providers you can trust when gambling with cryptocurrency. Here are three of the best currently operating online:
⦁Earnbet
- Uses EOS blockchain protocols
- Decentralised, anonymous, transparent
- Offers many games, including dice, blackjack, hi-lo, crash, and baccarat
- Accepts BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, and EOS
- Offers BET incentive/reward tokens
⦁ CasinoFair
- Decentralised Ethereum based platform
- Huge range of games, including classic blackjack, baccarat, roulette, poker, slots, and more
- Uses native FUN tokens which can be exchanged into BTC, ETH, LTC, or XRP
⦁ 888TRON
- Uses Tron blockchain
- High scalability and speed
- Samsung native support
- More than 2,000 games, including dice, slots, table games, and more
- Hugely popular and receives over $150 million in bets every day
What crypto can you use?
As of March 2022, there an estimated 18,000 cryptocurrencies are in existence, no online site will accept them all. The exact currencies accepted by each site varies dramatically, but the providers listed above focus on the following seven.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The original and the biggest, Bitcoin has been around since 2009 and is by far the most widely accepted cryptocurrency. Users wanting to use this most popular currency can even find a list of bitcoin casinos at online-casinos.com.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
This cryptocurrency arrived in 2017 as a result of irreconcilable differences about how BTC should work between its users/owners. Theoretically faster and more scalable than Bitcoin but newer and, as a result, less trusted at this stage.
Ethereum (ETH)
Currently, the biggest alternative to Bitcoin, even though it wasn’t initially created as a cryptocurrency, but as a programmable blockchain. Ethereum is designed to be more energy-efficient and inclusive, it is also heavily tied into the rise in NFTs.
Litecoin (LTC)
Launched in 2011, Litecoin was one of the first to follow Bitcoin, today it is the world’s 21st largest cryptocurrency. Litecoin is designed to have a faster block generation rate leading to faster transactions.
EOS
Primarily, EOS is a blockchain-based, decentralised platform used to develop, host, and run business applications. EOS tokens were the payment system used within the network which are now being accepted for wider uses.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple was originally designed for financial institutions to scale global digital payments and reduce cross-border transaction costs. It is now a popular cryptocurrency and has the advantage of allowing small amounts of credit to be extended.
Tron (TRX)
Tron was created in 2017 with the intention of becoming a global entertainment system offering cost-effective sharing of digital content. With 50 million accounts open, Tron has ambitions to “decentralise the web” and challenge media giants like Netflix and Amazon.
How big will it get?
In 2022, the future for cryptocurrency, and therefore crypto gambling, is impossible to predict. For this reason, it is likely traditional gambling, despite its flaws, will remain the dominant form for some time yet.
As confidence and understanding of crypto grow, however, both providers and users will increasingly come to recognize its clear advantages. Assuming the crypto “bubble” doesn’t burst, as some fear, the potential for crypto gambling is enormous.
