Cryptocurrency has changed the world as we know it. Everything from finance and technology to the way governments regulate online payments has been affected by it.
One of the industries that has been almost completely disrupted by crypto is the iGaming industry. Here, we look at five ways in which the world of iGaming is changing because of cryptocurrency.
Faster Deposits and Withdrawals
It is not a secret that local fiat currency payments are often much faster than cryptocurrency. In fact, many of them only take a couple of seconds to complete. However, it is also not a secret that international payments are quite slow by comparison, often taking days per transaction.
With crypto, this is not a problem. The average transaction time ranges from a few minutes to less than an hour depending on the coin involved. As such, cryptocurrency allows players to make faster deposits and withdrawals.
In recent years, cryptocurrency has increasingly been used in cross-border payments. This is true for literally hundreds of industries, and iGaming is just one of them.
Secure Payments
Another problem with fiat online casinos has been the problem with security. This is not true for some of the more reputable casinos. However, those iGaming websites also have had to deal with a lot of regulation and geo-restrictions.
On the other hand, non-reputable casinos not under these limitations have had a problem with getting people to trust them. This is not surprising, as there have been many scams involving online casinos through the years.
When it comes to crypto casino sites, a huge layer of those concerns is removed due to the secure payment gateways that have to be used when transferring cryptocurrency.
Contrary to popular belief, crypto payments are not untraceable, they are simply anonymous (i.e. a third party cannot discover the name of the parties involved without additional information). As such, it stands to reason that tackling crypto-based gambling frauds will also be much easier.
No Regional Restrictions
Although we have mentioned how certain casinos lock out players based on where they are based, we believe this point deserves another mention.
There are many fiat-based iGaming websites that are not accessible in large parts of the world. In fact, some of the most well-known and beloved online fiat-based casinos cannot even be accessed in the US.
Crypto casinos, on the other hand, usually do not have regional restrictions. While there are some crypto casino sites that are overly regulated, there are more than enough websites that can be accessed from pretty much all over the world.
While it is possible that future regulation may render this advantage obsolete, chances are that crypto-based gambling platforms will always enjoy somewhat looser restrictions compared to their fiat counterparts.
An Increased Focus on Bonuses
While this is not true for all cryptocurrency casinos, it is true that there is now a bigger focus on providing withdrawal and other types of bonuses than ever before.
This is because cryptocurrencies have allowed more people to access iGaming websites than ever before (see above). With a higher number of potential customers now visiting the casinos, there is more competition which is bound to be better for the consumer.
As such, it is not that rare to see bonuses that match the deposit amount by up to 200%. Just to be clear, this would mean that you receive 2 BTC for free on a deposit of 1 BTC. Most crypto casinos now also run weekly promotions that allow the players to get their hands on a lot of free coins.
Another good news is that the advent of more crypto casinos has also required fiat-based platforms to increase the rewards. As such, bonuses nowadays are higher across the board than what they were just a few years ago.
Casinos Have More Control
Cryptocurrency has also allowed casinos to have more control over their business. Remember that we do not mean that in a bad way, as illustrated by the following two examples.
1. Since casinos do not have to deal with any third-parties for handling withdrawals and deposits, they can save a lot of money in the long run. These savings can then be passed onto the consumer.
2. Opening a casino is much easier when using cryptocurrencies due to the company having to deal with less regulation.
As such, it comes as no surprise that we have seen a lot of new crypto casino sites begin operating over the last few years. On top of that, a lot of traditional online casinos also now offer crypto-based payment methods. This number is continuously increasing, meaning that crypto will continue to have a lasting impact on the iGaming industry.
This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
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