According to an article published on the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO), online gambling already accounts for half of the Bitcoin transactions. And, online gambling in Norway is legal as you’ll find on norske nettcasino where there are thousands of users that have opted to use the cryptocurrency route. 

Jorgen Aasgen is knowledgeable in the casino industry and is here to guide us through this article. He is an expert in the field of igaming and has closely monitored the crypto trend that is slowly taking over the casino and sports betting community. 

The use of cryptocurrencies in gambling websites is likely to increase, with regular new coin offerings, providing choice to the gambler. 

Regulation

Crypto casinos are not yet subject to the same regulations as fiat currency casinos, although they would be wise to comply with these regulations in anticipation of compliance becoming compulsory. If they don’t, they are vulnerable to a critical business risk when this happens, as it’s not likely there’ll be much warning. In any case, it would be a brilliant marketing move.

Some new cryptos are being developed specifically for gambling- CasinoCoin CSC  was explicitly designed for the regulated online gambling industry. It uses the same  Ripple blockchain technology as many banks use and is easy for casinos to accept, as it has built-in ‘Know Your Client (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) capabilities. 

Its only use is for gambling, and it allows you to gamble without creating an account at the casino. It begs the question of whether one would still qualify for bonuses, although that would presumably remain at the casino’s discretion. 

The mere existence of such a coin suggests that more will follow, although online casinos will soon be weary of having to change their software to accommodate the release of every new token. This hurdle is still some way in the future, so it needn’t worry us now.

There are no laws regulating crypto gambling, but they could be disruptive when introduced.

The anonymity and security of gambling with crypto allow online casinos to be available in restricted areas such as China. While there is a growing demand in such places, it is illegal. For now, some online casinos are taking the opportunity to increase their profits.

As the cryptocurrency casino industry matures, there will no doubt be more legal challenges to face. The more casinos can anticipate these, the less disruptive they will be.

Responsible Gambling

Using cryptocurrency in a casino, whether online or land-based,  is a double gamble. The player is gambling on the coin itself and the game’s outcome and should remain aware of this. We know that Cryptocurrencies are volatile. 

It would be terrible to have a big win only to find it wiped out due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency used. Many gamblers welcome the anonymity that gambling with cryptocurrency provides, but it does make it more difficult to impose restrictions for a gambler with a problem.

Coins for Gambling

We can see from the number of ICOs that new cryptos are still being developed and released.

It’s hard to imagine casinos scurrying to change their software to accommodate each one, so there must be a natural limit. We’ve already mentioned Casino coin (CSC), and expect there’ll be more like that.

Blockchain technology allows for radical changes to the future of the casino industry, both in new coins and in the games themselves, decentralising different functions. This is not in wide use yet but seems an inevitable progression. 

Coinpoker (CHP) developers have already demonstrated this by developing the CHP coin  for a specific game and use at coinpoker.com. They released the coin in 2018 in response to a problem with card shuffling. You can trade CHP on some exchanges but can’t spend the coins anywhere else.

We can expect more innovations like this. The development of online casinos is likely to become more complex and specialised, as more and more opportunities for improvement become clear.

Conclusion

The rising popularity of online gambling and blockchain technology is providing more opportunities for innovation. It would be surprising if Cryptocurrency Casinos don’t take over the igaming industry.