THE IMPACT OF BITCOIN ON ONLINE CASINOS

The emergence of a freely accessible internet towards the end of the last millennium has led the gaming industry to extend its market reach and influence. In spite of the severe legal restrictions placed on traditional gambling in many places, online casino has continually flourished. In the same manner, several ways of making payments have been developed to make it easier and faster for gamblers to place their bets. Bitcoin happens to be one such schemes and its impact on online casino will be the focus of this short piece.

Although Bitcoin was introduced eight years ago, it wasn’t until early this year before it started making the major headlines all over the media. Right now, even the average man on the streets has come to know about cryptocurrency through Bitcoin.

Among the industries that have started integrating Bitcoin into their payment system, it seems the online gaming industry stands to benefit the most. Since the inception of the currency, a good number of market opportunities have suddenly pop up. It’s as if the two are a perfect match.

As seen in recent surveys, the number of customers has greatly increased, as well as the number of casino sites now available. This goes to show that both gamblers and operators have greatly benefited from using Bitcoin. And even though the currency is yet to be fully accepted in the mainstream market, there is no doubt its presence in the gaming world is highly welcomed by many.

Although, we’re not sure what will happen tomorrow, but the impact of Bitcoin technology on online casinos at the moment is undeniably huge. But then, we are only at the genesis. We can only hope for things to get better as more casino operators continue to buy into the technology.

But why do operators love Bitcoin?

The reason is not far-fetched. Although Bitcoin is neither gold nor dollars, it has value and a rare quality which lies in its technology. The “open source” idea behind the currency is what makes it unique. Due to its transparency, it is highly embraced by operators and stakeholders in the gaming industry. Within a relatively short period, Bitcoin has not only proved to be lucrative but also perfect for transaction. A good example is betway casino.

This explains the reason for the massive increase in the number of Bitcoin operated casinos, poker rooms and sport betting sites.

Unlike legal tenders (e.g. dollars), Bitcoin doesn’t make any room for refund. Payment is final, anonymous, and there are no chargebacks- one of the biggest issues facing online casino operators.

There are also other benefits like simplicity, zero transaction fee, better pay-outs, non-licensing, and a wider market reach.

What is in for gamblers and stakeholders?

Gamblers highly benefit from the cost efficiency of Bitcoin. Compared to t legal tenders, the cost of making a single bitcoin is pretty low and almost negligible. It’s almost nothing for the casino operators, which is why there is already a push to make Bitcoin the mainstream payment system.

Also, the use of Bitcoin completely eliminates the need for gamblers to convert their money into chips; something that is very common in regular casinos.

In addition, the problem of money laundering is gradually fading out since the inception of Bitcoin, as the technology has proven to be effective for discovering and cleaning illegal money.