Blockchain technology and casinos: friends or enemies?

30-09-2022



Online casinos are a miracle of technology. They are safe, affordable and most of all, since they do not require bettors to take long trips just to enjoy legal gambling, they are convenient. Besides, money transactions are so much easier too, thanks to the different electronic payment methods available online. All the top online casinos were not much different from land-based casinos in terms of finances because they used traditional currencies as the denomination for their credits, being US Dollars, Euros, and British Pounds the most popular ones.

Nevertheless, as technology kept advancing and once the so-called cryptocurrencies gained some status, many online betting sites started to include them in their payment options. And even if at first they kept the requirement of obligatory conversion to the currency they worked with, a new age seems to have begun and online casinos operating exclusively with crypto have risen in popularity. This takes us to an imminent question: will traditional and online casinos become a thing of the past? In this article, we will seek to find the answer.

Basic concepts

Pretty much everyone knows what a casino is. Online casinos are just their internet counterpart. Therefore, the first concept we really need to understand is one of William Hill`s specials, that of cryptocurrencies. Basically, they are a digital type of money that does not have a physical equivalent nor is it backed by any type of governmental institution; these types of currency rely only upon the trust of the users instead. To that end, they use a revolutionary technology called blockchain, which takes us to the second concept.

Blockchain technology is akin to a highly encrypted ledger that registers every transaction in an immutable block of data that’s verified by the decentralized network. The biggest advantage is that this digital ledger is distributed over a huge database chain with millions of copies and every single transaction is registered in every single copy, lowering the possibility of fraud to zero.

Blockchain in casinos

As we previously mentioned, accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method was the initial approach many online casinos took. Even today, their offers commonly include the best online casino bonuses for high rollers, provided that they convert the crypto to a traditional government-backed currency. In the initial stages, that was everything blockchain technology seemed to have in store for them. There’s nothing farther from the truth, though.

Blockchain can also be used, for example, in the development stage of an online casino for automated payments through smart contracts. Moreover, the number of purchases done in crypto without conversions has reached record amounts in recent years; therefore, clients no longer need to go through that process in order to enjoy their crypto payments, which has led to the creation of crypto-exclusive businesses, including betting sites. These two factors combined with how trendy brands like Bitcoin are at present (thanks to the ease of use regardless of the region), the high-security levels of their e-wallets systems, and the fact that the ratio between minimal and maximal gambling limits is outstandingly vast in comparison with traditional money, have made the so-called crypto casinos a preferable choice for many, particularly for those belonging to the younger generations.

Are crypto casinos a threat to the rest then?

Is easy to understand why someone can reach that conclusion. After all, cryptocurrencies are used more and more by the day and the whole internet seems to be gravitating towards blockchain technology. Nevertheless, one must not forget that a similar situation has happened in the industry before; and not only once but several times at that. For instance, the same was said a couple of years back when many people claimed that online casinos would displace brick-and-mortar betting houses. Yet, physical casinos are still alive and thriving despite the success of their web counterparts. A most recent example, however, is casino live games, which use streaming technology to broadcast directly from a studio a flesh-and-bones professional dealer on a real table with actual implements, for punters to play using a web interface. Once again, they were said to be the end of the previous versions, yet long-established casinos adapted and incorporated the technology without a problem.

If we take into consideration these precedents alongside 1) the fact that cryptocurrencies are still a novelty, 2) that they still lack regulation from many aspects to avoid their misuse, and 3) that their value continues to be too volatile, we can safely assume that crypto casinos do not represent a threat to casinos in general. In any case, the most likely result will be that long-standing casinos, both online and offline, will take advantage of blockchain technology to improve themselves and their services to ultimately offer a more comprehensive experience for their clients. It will be up to punters whether to choose one or another version.