Since the inception of cryptocurrency back in 2009, the world has seen shifting in how we transact money and how we view the monetary systems as a whole. As the cryptocurrency industry brought us many great attributes, it was only a matter of time before other industries caught on and implemented the nascent technology into their fields. For example, online casinos. Crypto Gambling’s future looks bright!
Let’s explore how the crypto gambling future could pave the way to a more decentralised and borderless era!
The Emergence Of Cryptocurrency
The real beginning of cryptocurrency emerging dates back to the global financial crisis from 2007 to 2009. Little did the world know, but at the time, a developer or group of developers were working on a new payment system that would change the world as we know it. The individual or entity known only as Satoshi Nakamoto released this concept in 2008, a few months before mining Bitcoin’s Genesis block. This would mark the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain and the beginning of a revolution.
Unfortunately, few people were aware of it at the time, but that’s how revolutions begin. Over the next few years, more and more people were introduced to this decentralised peer-to-peer payment system designed to offer people a means of trading and storing value without governments, banks, or financial institutions. Bitcoin allowed individuals to buy and sell goods without waiting for bank approvals, costly foreign exchange fees, and drawn-out waiting periods.
Slowly, the world took notice, and Bitcoin became a more mainstream topic. While the markets were often volatile, stirring up a lot of negative attention, many sat on the sidelines, waiting for the revolution to take a more stable stance. As more industries started adopting the payment system and the technology behind it (blockchain), more cryptocurrencies emerged. Today, there are over 8,000 altcoins on the market, building up a market cap of over $1 trillion.
Online Casinos Adopt Crypto
A few (alright, almost two decades) years before the launch of crypto, casinos leapt into the online sector. In 1994, Microgaming launched the first of its kind, opening a new can of worms on the gambling scene. Much like Bitcoin, online gambling took a few years to garner the attention (and revenue) it deserved. In 1998 it got just that; reports indicate that the industry was valued at around $830 million toward the beginning of the year before online poker rooms started popping up. By the end of the year, the industry is believed to have grown to $1 billion.
Twenty years later, H2 Gambling Capital placed the worldwide annual gambling revenue at $21 billion. Crypto entered the gambling scene when American entrepreneur Erik Voorhees launched SatoshiDice in 2012. The gaming platform was a dice game where players could bet Bitcoin on the outcome of the dice. The self-proclaimed “most popular Bitcoin betting game in the universe” sold for an impressive 126,315 BTC three years later.
And that paved the way for many other crypto casinos to onboard the payment method. While many platforms incorporated cryptocurrencies alongside their usual fiat options, many others entered a league of their own. This new league was the birth of blockchain-based casinos, where the entire gaming platform was based on blockchain technology. Those that saw the value in the trustless technology saw the value in incorporating it into their gambling platform, which turned out to be wildly valuable to both casino and player.
Blockchain technology, the backbone of Bitcoin, requires a network of nodes (computers) to verify every transaction before adding it to the blockchain. The blocks, and all their transactions, can be viewed by anyone, anywhere, at any time. This immutable and public ledger carries every information about the platform’s activities, so blockchain created a clear overview of an industry often shrouded in doubt. Players can now view every game’s outcome, verify their winnings, and even see when they are paid. Depositing and withdrawing take a fraction of the time compared to fiat transactions, and players and developers can feel more in control of their gameplay.
How Crypto Gambling Is Revolutionising The Future
Looking more deeply into it, let’s uncover how crypto gambling could pave the way to a more decentralised and borderless future. Crypto-only casinos require a different casino licence from fiat casinos, allowing them to reach a wider audience across the globe. Players in Japan can access a European casino with the same ease as someone sitting in Europe simply by opting to use Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency for that matter, instead of Euros.
As blockchain casinos continue to mark the industry, the decentralised nature in which they operate can be felt across the board. Players no longer need to adhere to the strict regulations imposed by their banks or financial institutions, nor do they need to report their winnings if in crypto (in some countries, always check the laws in your country of residence). The decentralised nature of blockchain is trickling into the crypto gambling scene for the better.
What The Future Holds
With the decentralised and borderless manner of blockchain technology being incorporated into the crypto gambling scenario, the future looks bright with innovation and cross-border gameplay. No longer are a country’s borders constricting players to certain gambling platforms; they can now play wherever they like and as they please. That is how crypto gambling could pave the way to a more decentralised and borderless future.
