Why cryptocurrencies are growing in the gaming and betting industry

Whilst words like cryptocurrencies and blockchain may still not mean much to the majority of people, ‘Crypto’ continues to grow as a viable financial solution for the world’s population.

Without going into too much detail, blockchain technology offers us a level of security and anonymity that can’t be matched by traditional banking systems.

Interestingly, these factors have caused crypto to grow in popularity in the online casino and gambling worlds, and with economic slowdowns currently affecting almost all global economies, it will be interesting to see how many more of the world’s population will be delving into their Bitcoin wallets in the near future.

Psychologically, anything to do with finance is often going to bring about emotions of fear, stress and other anxieties. The rise of Bitcoin and other Crypto’s is not just a financial equation, but about the relative emotional cost. The blockchain’s security (and other bank’s data breaches), only increase the emotional appeal of digital coins.

However, it’s lack of adoption can also be explained by the same token. As digital currencies are still primarily used for trading, their value can change overnight (for better or worse), which may only increase the anxieties that consumers are looking to get away from. The excess of currencies available can also be a big barrier to making a decision on what to invest in, this is known as overchoice effect. Consumers struggled to know whether to buy Blu-ray or HD DVD in the 00’s, so it’s unsurprising that people may be put off by the more than 2000 different digital currencies in this emerging technology.

So far, the main barrier to mass adoption of crypto gambling is the anonymity afforded by the blockchain. Governing bodies globally are still wary of the lack of traceability of cryptocurrencies, but this hasn’t stopped it’s global uptake amongst ordinary consumers.

The blockchain is the underlying technology of all digital currencies, but blockchain has many other applications. The technology can even be used to itself run a casino-platform, giving users the transparency that the Casino is operating in a decentralised and much fairer way. Everything that happens on a blockchain is permanently stored on the ledger, so it would be impossible to tamper or change the odds of outcomes of games. Another positive outcome is that it’s even possible to build in controls to prevent excessive gambling, or to embed other government regulations into the underlying blockchain.

The more obvious step online casinos could take is to create their own custom coins. Many global companies such as Facebook have come forward to announce their desire to release their own coins, so it seems feasible that gambling and betting businesses may well follow suit.

Ultimately, cryptocurrencies are continuing to grow, but most businesses still have a lot to learn about how digital coins are shaping everyday life, but also what their potential use is in the future.