Of the many things that can be done with cryptocurrency, gambling is perhaps one of the most unique. Humans have gambled in some form or the other for hundreds of years and as our mediums of exchange have evolved, so has the practice.
These days, it is possible to gamble with a plethora of tokens, from Bitcoin to Dogecoin and everything in between. Gambling with crypto also comes with benefits for players such as the chance to make additional profit, faster transactions, more privacy, and so on.
This has made the practice of crypto gambling more popular than ever before. Additionally, recent reports have shown that more gambling is being done with crypto and that the industry is seeing record profits.
Crypto Gambling to the Moon
Recent data from the UK Gambling Commission shows that from January to March 2024, crypto gambling saw a 5% increase in revenue to £1.4 billion. The UK is home to a significant number of online casinos and its gambling sector as a whole is worth £14.3 billion.
This report would suggest that crypto gambling is gaining a bigger share of this figure. The UK is notable for having a fairly robust crypto regulatory landscape, with some in government eyeing a spot as a major crypto hub around the world.
Several major sports clubs in the UK like Manchester City have even launched their own fan crypto tokens, which would influence more sports betting using digital assets. All these come together to create a welcoming atmosphere for crypto betting.
More data which sheds light on the situation comes from SOFTSWISS, an IGaming solutions provider. As per its findings, crypto bets comprised a quarter of all online bets for the first quarter of 2024, up by 2.4% from the previous quarter. This growing use of crypto has prompted many iGaming companies to now allow their customers to bet with crypto, with SOFTSWISS estimating that 25% of them now offer crypto-based services.
A part of the reason for this increase in crypto use is Bitcoin. As most of us know, the token experienced a bull run in early 2024, partially triggered by the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF. As the token’s market value soared, some customers flocked to gamble with both it and other cryptos to make a profit. On the other hand, the increased value of crypto could also drive some customers to bet less with crypto.
“The lack of a substantial increase in the number of crypto bets during Q1 2024 can be partly attributed to the significant rise of the Bitcoin exchange rate during this period, leading players to be more cautious with their crypto bets.,” said Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS.
As the markets become less volatile, it is possible that crypto betting figures will go up even more and iGaming providers will be incentivized to embrace it. Still, having a quarter of iGaming platforms offering crypto-based services and having a quarter of bets being made with crypto is no small feat.
A decade ago, the idea that any other form of currency could compete with fiat on this level would have been unthinkable. However, cryptocurrency has been able to achieve this thanks to a number of industry and regulatory developments.
How Crypto Gambling Saw Its Rise
There are several factors that have seen crypto gambling become the global phenomenon that it is. First, there is the mere fact that it is legal. Gambling itself has always been a heavily regulated industry and crypto only makes it more complex. Just as gambling is not legal everywhere, neither is crypto gambling.
As Olaleye Komolafe explains, the legal status of crypto gambling varies from place to place. It is this variety of acceptability that would lead a consumer to use, for example, an anonymous casino as opposed to a mainstream one. But in the last few years, there have been greater strides made in regulating crypto gambling, thus making it more accessible to the public.
On top of this, there is a growing association between sports and crypto. Billions of dollars are spent by fans of sports clubs on gambling each year and cryptocurrency is developing a bigger presence in the sports world. From the renaming of the Staples Center to the Crypto.com Arena to the sponsorship of sports clubs by crypto companies to the fan tokens being issued, sports fans are seeing more of crypto than ever before. This, in turn, leads to more sports betting being done with crypto.
There is also the fact that cryptocurrency has simply become more valuable and more visible. A decade ago, many of us would not have even heard of Bitcoin or crypto as a whole. Now, the industry is more publicly visible and more financially viable. Knowing more about crypto and knowing how much money can be made from it simply means that more people will be open to gambling with it. All of these are only going to become more relevant as more iGaming companies embrace crypto.
Conclusion
Crypto gambling might have been a very novel concept a few years ago but now, it boasts a quarter of all online gambling transactions. This is a testament to the resilience of the asset class - as well as the community behind it.
If crypto regulations continue to improve, tokens continue to perform well in the market, and iGaming companies take their chances with it, the crypto-to-fiat ratio of online gambling will look a lot more equal in the coming years. With any luck, crypto could even overtake fiat in that regard.
