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Pick a name of any industry and you can sense the smoke of Blockchain penetrating within. With this technology slowly entering our lives in different spheres, we can set our expectations high for it to change things for good. Consider the gambling industry for instance which operates successfully in both online as well as offline mode (land-based) casinos. The introduction of Blockchain technology in gambling has made a significant impact on the industry.
Online casino industry growth
Talking about the online casino and gambling industry, there’s no doubt to the fact that it is one of the fastest growing sectors. As per Statista, this sector was worth the US $24.73b in 2009 and is expected to rise to $56b by 2018.
Blockchain in online casinos
Although the online business of casinos is growing, there are certain areas where it still falls behind the land-based casinos like free drinks, free food, travels and live entertainment. The biggest challenge however being the ‘settlements’ which are instant in most Vegas based casinos but the online version takes 3-4 days to transfer the funds.
This is where cryptocurrencies come handy and offer a solution. A crypto-based casino platform like Satoshi Dice which offers a fair analyze and verify bets on games offered by a service provider. The platform has processed much more than 6,000,000 blockchain based bets and distributed winnings of more than 4,000,000 BTC. The platform returns bets in less than 20ms.
Many online gaming sites have acknowledged the power of cryptocurrencies by implementing them in their business models. Moreover, places like Malta which are considered as the leaders for the gambling industry are taking steps to make Bitcoins legal. As a matter of fact, the Maltese government has a strong belief in cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology and they plan to position Malta as a leading name for application of these.
The birth of Ethereum blockchain and their smart contract applications that can facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance has given an unprecedented opportunity to online casinos or betting platforms to regulate key operations of smart contracts.
Random numbers and payouts can be ruled by smart contracts which are fully public and implemented on an Ethereum blockchain. Now players can see everything: transactions, sums, bets, the reasons why transactions are moving and, most importantly, the mechanism of randomness. If the casino tried to rig the odds, it would be immediately spotted.
| Traditional Online Casino | Bitcoin Online Casino | Ethereum smart contracts Based Online casinos | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No logins/ registrations needed for casino users | * | Yes | Yes |
| Free money withdrawals and deposits | * | Yes | Yes |
| No delay in money withdrawals and deposits | * | Yes | Yes |
| 100% anonymity provided by a cryptocurrency | * | Yes | Yes |
| Random number fairness check | * | Yes | Yes |
| Fully transparent random number fairness | * | * | Yes |
| Transparency guided by Ethereum smart contract | * | * | Yes |
| Impossible for intentional casino profits draining | * | * | Yes |
Reasons for applying Blockchain in Online casinos
Inexpensive and accessible
The use of cryptocurrencies to deal in the gambling domain has become a popular practice as both main as well as alternative payment systems. This has become possible as there are many advantages to this mode as it allows the user to gamble anonymously without providing document copies or even creating an account as per the platform.
Moreover, the ability of processing transactions in real-time also makes cryptocurrencies preferable here. Also, the accessibility of online gambling has increased with the use of cryptocurrencies as they provide a low entry barrier for new players.
Unbiased
The overall point of anyone owning a casino is to make profits in the long run while providing the customer with the joy of making money at times. This practice might serve positively in land-based casinos but when it comes to online gambling, things change and insecurities arise.
There’s always a doubt in the mind of a gambler when it comes to transparency and profits provided by online casinos. In such cases, the application of cryptography makes it possible for the gambling platforms to gain the trust of the players. Blockchain technology and smart contracts can escalate this concept to the next level for even more complex systems.
Decentralized
Similar to the functioning of miners in Bitcoin, Blockchain technology allows anyone to be a casino member. This way, while playing via the bitcoin casinos, the users get the share of the house edge with the profits made by the casino.
Some sports betting platforms own their own blockchain network that reports event outcomes by a network of master nodes.
The Future
Blockchain technology is many times compared to the internet which has literally turned upside down after the its inception. With blockchain, we are moving towards an environment where peoples and businesses can transfer assets and have agreements in place as fast as sending emails without the need of personal trust.
There are multiple implementations of blockchain technology across industries, but the gambling industry is one which needs it the most. We all must agree that cryptocurrency and its underlying technology blockchain is disrupting the gambling and casino industry by inducing the quality and trust factor among gamblers and bettors.To implement blockchain in your existing iGaming flatform, get in touch with our experts!
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