The Potential for Cryptos in Casinos

People are always looking for places where cryptocurrency might be able to break through as a more useful form of money. And some time ago, Polygant examined gaming as one potential area of interest. The piece wasn’t just about the headline examples, such as Microsoft’s acceptance of bitcoin for Xbox online activities. Rather, it delved into various examples of new or expanding companies building online gaming initiatives on a foundation of cryptocurrency.

Such initiatives have continued to emerge, and in some cases there are crypto-based gaming opportunities up and running on the web. However, they still can’t be described as mainstream. Basically, those who are specifically interested in gaming on crypto-related platforms can sometimes find ways to do so – but more casual gamers are unlikely to stumble on these same platforms. This could change in the future, or even if more mainstream gaming support companies (like ValveCorp, which did briefly accept bitcoin a few years ago) get on board. In the meantime though, we’re looking instead at a sort of side branch of the gaming world: digital casino entertainment.

For people who aren’t interested in casino gaming, this likely seems like a niche entertainment space. One might imagine cartoonish poker sites from the early 2000s, or aggravating slot machine mobile apps. These types of games are still out there, but the truth is that they no longer define their genre entirely. The UK’s newer online casino sites, which for the most part set the standard for the global industry, are far more sophisticated. They offer a full selection of games equipped with modern animation; they have appealing interfaces and clear deposit and bonus options; they’re available via various devices; and most of them deal in real money with extensive security measures in place.

That last point, about handling real money with adequate security, is what makes casino gaming such a clear fit for crypto expansion. Years ago, concerns about deposit security and money transfer could keep players from trusting online casinos, and even now there are certainly less safe options out there. But it’s fairly easy now to see which sites are regulated and secure and which ones aren’t – and integrating cryptos would simply be another step in the newer and more respected sites securing gamers’ trust. In the simplest of terms, a digital casino built to provide top-notch digital security fits the industry like a glove.

This is actually why there are already examples of crypto casinos sprouting up across the web. Some of them are brand new, somewhat like the gaming companies discussed in the previous article; they were built on cryptos, and sometimes accept nothing else. Other examples, however, show cryptocurrency being added to the acceptable payment options at more established gaming destinations.

The existence of these examples and the clear fit don’t necessarily mean that we’re a year away from a vast global network of crypto-casino gaming. Hurdles remain in development, and in some cases casinos (in person as well as online) have had to be reminded about crypto compliance requirements. Furthermore, even a massive online casino that happily welcomes cryptos can only be as useful as the number of users it attracts who in fact want to sue cryptos. But these hurdles won’t catch anyone involved by surprise, and the groundwork is still being laid for significant expansion in this space.