Welcome to 2019 – the face of the Internet is changing on a daily basis and users now have more choices than ever when it comes to how do they interact online. However, with ever-increasing instances of data breaches and hacks, it is becoming increasingly important to pay attention to your digital security.
Fortunately, technological advancements in the blockchain sector are providing developers with a whole new way to ensure that online safety is at the forefront of the customer experience. There is no other area that benefits more from these improvements than the online gaming and gambling industry.
Taking gambling online
In the late 2000s, the casino and gambling industry started to break into the digital scene but was immediately faced with significant hurdles – most specifically related to transparency and trust. The ability to hide behind an anonymous online network gave unscrupulous operators the chance to dupe customers in ways that were previously unavailable in the physical world. Furthermore, the need to provide sensitive personal information such as bank details gave hackers a highly lucrative database that was too attractive to ignore. A string of high-profile data breaches and the exposure of fraudulent operators threatened to halt the sector’s online expansion.
What the online gambling industry needed was an immutable, incorruptible and transparent system that benefited both operators and users by creating a fair and profitable platform for all. The decentralized ledger technology (DLT) of blockchain provided just this and, with this, it gave rise to the popularity of cryptocurrency in the online gambling industry.
The benefits of blockchain
Above and beyond supplying a secure and transparent environment, the use of blockchain and cryptocurrency in online gambling has a wealth of additional benefits. Digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) operate outside of the jurisdiction of any country, which makes them especially attractive as a means of transaction in regions with especially restrictive governments. As a result, a whole new world of online gambling has now become available to enthusiasts who were previously cut off from the sector. There are now thousands of platforms available that offer all kinds of casino and gambling games such as poker, slots, and roulette. In addition to the added security benefits, transactions made via cryptocurrency are not only quicker and cheaper but less complex and more seamless than using traditional fiat currency.
In August last year, leading financial information service Bloomberg reported on how online gambling has become the most popular application of blockchain technology in 2019, overtaking early implementations of trivial games like Cryptokitties. As blockchain developers mature and more profitable means of using the technology reveal themselves, online gambling has become its next best use-case. With more than half of all cryptocurrency transactions now related to gambling, digital assets are on course to make up a large portion of currency flow within the estimated $468 billion online gambling market in 2019.
Increased regulation
Despite blockchain offering advanced features such as ‘smart contracts‘ that act as automatically verified means of ensuring fair transactions on the network, additional regulation and oversight within the industry is becoming increasingly necessary. Popular tax-haven nations such as Malta are leading the charge in blockchain and cryptocurrency regulation, with organizations such as the Malta Gambling Authority releasing a detailed framework to outline responsible use of the technology. These developments promise to push cryptocurrency gambling into the mainstream by helping to refine an image which appeals to larger institutional investors.
Going forward, the growing enthusiasm in blockchain technology that is exhibited by both developers and users guarantees a bright future for online gambling and a safe and secure environment for all involved.
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