Bitcoin is now over a decade old. While it has seen its fair share of doubt and ridicule when it launched, today it is by far the best-known and most popular gambling cryptocurrency in 2021.
In the new age of DeFi (decentralised finance) more and more iGaming businesses are finding ways to integrate Bitcoin and blockchain into their offering. SOFTSWISS is one such business, though it launched its crypto casino solution back in 2013, at the dawn of online crypto gambling. The crypto payment processing method that powered the solution later evolved to become CoinsPaid.
While there are many types of crypto gambling and betting sites based on deposit method (integral or integrated), game portfolio (proprietary or integrated), or on-chain/off-chain gameplay, we are going to focus on examples of brands that use a crypto payment processor and an integrated gaming portfolio.
Bitcoin gambling in 2021
When it comes to cryptocurrency betting, gambling with Bitcoin is at an all time high in 2021. Based on the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator report for Q1 2021, Bitcoin gambling roughly held a share of 80% across hundreds of iGaming brands powered by SOFTSWISS products. Its closest runner up was Ethereum, with ethereum gambling holding an average 10% share.
Over a quarter of all bets made across SOFTSWISS-powered brands are now in crypto. This comes in contrast to the roughly 5% share held by bets in crypto for the previous year.
In tandem with Bitcoin hitting peak price and in a year with so much hype surrounding the crypto market, it comes as no surprise that the share of online crypto gambling would increase.
Bitcoin gambling advantages for players
- It is decentralized. No one can take your Bitcoins away from you or freeze your ‘crypto account’ due to the sheer absence of a central regulatory authority in the system. You own your money and control your transactions.
- It is secure. Your payment information cannot be stolen away from you. Bitcoin transactions do not require any personal data to be submitted, protecting you from identity theft. And there can be no chargebacks – once sent, Bitcoins transactions are immutable. This means the transaction cannot be reversed or altered from the way it was recorded in Bitcoin’s public ledger, which makes for fewer risks for merchants.
- It is private. Since no personal information is attached to your Bitcoin wallet, people do not know who purchased what. At the same time it is transparent, meaning that anyone can find information on addresses and their balances in a public ledger.
- It is fast. It does not matter where you transfer your coins to: be it an international transfer or a local pizza purchase. With Bitcoin any. With CoinsPaid’s crypto-processing capabilities, crypto casino deposits the transfer is close to instantaneous.
- Bitcoin has (had) low transaction fees. Since there are no middlemen in a decentralised network, no one will charge you for anything. At the same time, the way the technology is set up there might be fees for faster processing of transactions or conversion of bitcoins into fiat currency. Still, most wallets will give you the option to adjust your commission in favour of a speedy crypto transfer or a low commission.
- It is not subject to inflation. The number of Bitcoins to ever be issued is limited to 21 million and Bitcoin volume growth is predictable, so they cannot be churned out like fiat currencies and poured into the economy at random.
- It is not always taxed. The tax regulation for digital assets has come a long way as Bitcoin and altcoins have been recognized by some states as property, store of value, or even currency. If you are planning to gamble in Bitcoin, make sure you know what your local tax law says on your winnings or profits from betting with crypto. But for most countries Bitcoin remains largely unregulated.
In summary, from a player’s point of view, Bitcoin is the perfect ‘gaming coin’. Players love Bitcoin because it offers anonymous high speed transactions for deposits and withdrawals, which do not go through a centralized banking system. Moreover, most Bitcoin games are ‘Provably Fair‘.
Bitcoin advantages for online business owners
On the business side of crypto currency gambling iGaming operators tend to appreciate the full transparency and control over their bankroll that comes with using Bitcoin through an integrated payment processor.
SOFTSWISS crypto casino operators can quickly and easily top up funds to make payouts to players and monitor their balance through a comprehensive dashboard through CoinsPaid.
As far as casino launch times go, a bitcoin casino brand enjoys faster launch times with less red tape involved. At the same time, operators are encouraged to learn more about their target player and make sure they have the means to acquire such customers as players.
Bitcoin gambling disadvantages
Despite a range of obvious inherent advantages Bitcoin has its own flaws, many of which are believed to be temporary.
- Bitcoin is volatile. Its price bounces up and down every day namely because of the limited number of Bitcoins in circulation and an increasing demand for them. Just this April, the cryptocurrency peaked at $64,000 per Bitcoin. It had previously peaked at roughly $20,000 at the end of 2017. Though eventually its price settles, it is not recommended to keep significant savings in Bitcoin unless you plan to HODL.
- It is a work in progress. Though it has been around for years, the Bitcoin network is always undergoing changes. As Bitcoin usage grows, it becomes more accessible and its features and usage practices more polished. Though with such high uptake, the Bitcoin network, which was not originally built to process the current number of transactions, has encountered scalability issues. Despite this, casino and sports betting players using crypto do not have to wait long for their deposits to clear owing to CoinsPaid’s integrated features.
- Not a “household” payment method. While holding a 78.5% iGaming market penetration rate according to SOFTSWISS COO, Andrey Starovoitov, Bitcoin is not always available as a go-to payment method. This said, worldwide Bitcoin adoption is constantly growing, especially across modern casinos and betting brands.
- It is untraceable. Bitcoin’s anonymity, viewed by many as an advantage, on the flipside is often associated with criminal activity in the sense that it is easier to get away with fraud. To minimise risks, SOFTSWISS products come with a number of built-in monitoring tools that help to flag suspicious or fraudulent activity.
If you decide to explore Bitcoin gambling business opportunities try to first learn as much as possible about the best practices of using, storing, and keeping your coins safe. SOFTSWISS has accumulated substantial expertise with Bitcoin and we are able to provide iGaming operators with hands-on best practices for online crypto gambling. If you decide to launch a Bitcoin casino, you can count on SOFTSWISS as the leading technological expert in Bitcoin when it comes to iGaming.