The online gambling world has experienced a seismic shift with the emergence of cryptocurrency over the past decade. Once confined to niche corners of the internet, crypto-based gambling sites and features have now firmly entered the mainstream. Major platforms have integrated popular cryptocurrencies while new crypto-first gambling operators continue to launch regularly.
Growth Statistics Show a Clear Trajectory
Cryptocurrency gambling platforms, like online Spin Casino, have seen explosive growth in recent years as both adoption and awareness increases globally. Some key statistics help quantify the rising prevalence of crypto gambling:
Year | Total Crypto Gambling Volume | Increase |
2019 | $80 billion | – |
2020 | $100 billion | 25% |
2021 | $150 billion | 50% |
2022 | $200 billion (estimate) | 33% |
The current crypto gambling market is estimated to be valued at over $200 billion. For reference, the entire global online gambling market is valued at around $92 billion. This shows that crypto gambling itself represents a massive and rapidly expanding subset.
Several factors have driven this huge growth, ranging from wider cryptocurrency adoption rates to changing attitudes towards gambling in jurisdictions worldwide. Crypto-based gambling platforms now serve most major markets across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Ownership and Transparency Set Cryptocurrencies Apart
One of the key differentiators of cryptocurrency gambling platforms lies in the ownership and transparency that blockchain technology enables. Whereas traditional online gambling houses are owned and operated by a single private entity, crypto platforms have verifiable public ownership.
For example, the ownership of the popular crypto gambling site FortuneJack is public knowledge through its holding company – Dominetsoft Ltd. The platform’s use of cryptocurrencies means all wagers and payouts are also visible on the blockchain, viewable by anyone. This allows players to audit gameplay fairness themselves rather than relying solely on an operator’s word.
This form of radical, verifiable transparency is unique to blockchain-based platforms. Traditional online platforms guard their internal workings and ownership structures as trade secrets, asking players to simply trust that gameplay is fair. For many, the transparent and decentralized nature of crypto gambling provides greater confidence.
Speed, Costs and Anonymity Attract Gamblers
Beyond ownership and transparency, cryptocurrency gambling platforms also tout advantages in payment speed, costs and user anonymity. In an industry where money is always moving, often rapidly, these characteristics have proven extremely attractive for players.
Cryptocurrency transactions processed on the blockchain avoid the lag and fees associated with traditional payment rails like credit cards and bank transfers. Crypto deposits and withdrawals are typically completed within minutes, if not seconds and incur only tiny blockchain network fees.
These tiny fees are a minute fraction of the high double-digit percentages skimmed from payments by traditional gambling platforms. Faster turnarounds and negligible fees make the player experience much more seamless.
Cryptocurrencies also enable pseudonymous gambling where players don’t need to provide the standard barrage of personal identity details. Crypto operators generally only require a valid crypto wallet address to play. This allows privacy-focused individuals to enjoy online gambling without concern over how their data is used or secured.
Provably Fair Systems Define Crypto Gambling
However the single biggest drawcard bringing new players to cryptocurrency gambling platforms lies in provably fair gaming. This concept was pioneered alongside Bitcoin to bring full transparency into gameplay results.
Unlike traditional online gambling hubs where game software is opaque and outcomes cannot be independently verified, provably fair systems rely on cryptographic hashing to prove randomness. Players can validate that gameplay is truly random and thus fair by checking game hashes against the public blockchain.
Crypto dice games show how this works in practice. Bets are placed by one party then a server will generate a random hash sent to the blockchain. The player can then throw their dice and compare the outcome’s hash against the original – matching hashes prove neither party tampered with the result.
Provably fair systems have become an expected feature across all quality crypto gambling platforms. Their ability to publicly prove gameplay fairness provides players with an assurance rarely found in traditional online gambling.
Concluding a Transformative Trend
Cryptocurrencies have well and truly established themselves as a transformative force in online gambling over the past decade. Their inroads have predominantly been driven by the unique benefits unlocked through public blockchains – ownership transparency, rapid and cheap payments, anonymity and provably fair gaming.
Current adoption and growth trajectories point towards crypto gambling assuming an ever-increasing share of the broader online gambling market. As blockchain platforms continue maturing and awareness keeps spreading, there is no end in sight to this rising trend bridging cryptocurrencies and gaming.