Despite the fact that cryptocurrencies are by now well over a decade old — with the technology first emerging in 2009 with Satoshi Nakamoto’s introduction of Bitcoin — this potentially revolutionary digital technology has scarcely been out of the news over the last few years.

Much of this is due to the fact that more and more use cases are beginning to emerge for cryptocurrencies — particularly as the underlying technology shifts from the ‘proof of work’ to ‘proof of stake’ phase of development.

As more and more money from institutional investors flows into the crypto world, digital assets and cryptocurrency-based payment systems will only continue to grow in popularity.

This confluence of events will lead to cryptocurrency technology — in all its various forms — being deployed across a range of sectors and industries as an increasing number of companies seek to take advantage of the various benefits that cryptocurrencies provide.

This is particularly true of the iGaming sector, who have long been supporters of crypto gambling and blockchain casinos. Even based on just a cursory glance of the various online casinos, there is already clear widespread support for cryptocurrencies across the industry.

However, from the perspective of the end user, what benefits do cryptocurrencies bring for the online iGaming sector, and why have online casinos so enthusiastically embraced this new technology?

The benefits of cryptocurrencies

There are a number of obvious attributes and benefits that cryptocurrencies possess, which make them an ideal use case for the online gambling industry. Many of these are inherent to the very nature of cryptocurrencies themselves, which may help to explain why they have been considered as opening up a whole new online gambling world.

One particularly attractive feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are inherently decentralized. This is because blockchain transactions are verified across the entire network of the currency itself, rather than by one centralized institution such as a bank. This means that no single organization can regulate it, as every member of the network has access to the data that is being stored and verified.

The fact that it is decentralized and involves verifying transactions across a network also means it has greater data transparency. This helps to instill consumer trust in the payment process, as opposed to traditional banking or payment systems.

Cryptocurrencies can also provide higher levels of confidentiality as transactional data can be kept away from mainstream banking systems, while also providing higher levels of encryption. This aspect is favored by online casino users, who might be worried about sharing information about their online activities.

In addition to these trust, transparency and confidentiality benefits, however, cryptocurrencies also benefit from allowing for significantly more efficient payment processes. In contrast to traditional banking and payment systems where transactions can take several days to be fully processed, payments on the blockchain can be fully processed incredibly quickly — sometimes in a matter of seconds! What’s best of all, the transaction speeds will only increase as the networks become better established, with efficiency increasing over time.

Why do online casinos prefer cryptocurrencies?

As we can see, there are benefits to using cryptocurrency-based payment processes in the online gambling and iGaming sector.

This includes both customer trust and safety benefits, increased transparency, lower costs and more efficient payment processing.

Notably, however, these benefits are equally shared and enjoyed both by the end user and the online platforms themselves. This itself helps to explain why key players in the online gambling and iGaming sector have so enthusiastically embraced this technology.

With cryptocurrency technology still in a relative state of infancy in terms of its long-term potential, the future looks incredibly bright! It is very likely that we will start to see even more creative uses for this technology over the next couple of years as institutional investment continues to pour in.

As more and more individuals continue to choose acquiring cryptocurrencies over traditional stock investing, it is also likely that cryptocurrencies will both become more widespread and more accessible. This will be positive for the industry on the whole and will force technological innovation as cryptocurrencies become more mainstream.

With all that said, the future looks very bright for both the online gambling and iGaming sector, with cryptocurrencies set to play an important role in bringing it about.