Is Cryptocurrency the Future of Casinos?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are well aware that the technological advancements, heralded by the internet have brought forth a dent, of massive proportions, in business, education, healthcare, and every other sector. Casinos haven’t been left back either. While previously, punters had to walk to a brick and mortar casino with hard cash, but today, the aforementioned technological advancements have shifted how people gamble. Punters can now play casino games from the comfort of their houses while taking office breaks, or even during vacations. Even so, the future of casinos remains open.

Cryptocurrencies are the fairly new kid on the block. And not just in the banking and business sectors, but also a swath of industries. Tech gurus who double up as experts in online gambling in the UK have predicted that crypto will eventually find its way into gambling. This has led to the coinage of a new term: crypto-casinos. And you don’t have to be a tech guru to know why. True, the Bitcoin bubble hasn’t been steady on its feet as it promised since its inception but is there still a possibility of bulldozing its way into casinos? Even with its bubble seemingly bursting by the day, can we expect an intersection of crypto and gambling as a part of the future of casinos? Are gambling regulators flexible enough to accept the new frontiers of this infant technology?

Crypto-Casinos: A Double-Edged Sword Shaping the Future of Casinos

A few betting sites have incorporated cryptocurrency into their operations. As expected, there were teething problems that were, more often than not, a subset of the issues caused by cryptocurrencies. But for the better part, the operations remain the same.

A prominent feature of cryptocurrencies is the fact that every transaction and its details such as coins transferred, and date and time of the transaction, are recorded via blockchain and verified in the public ledger. This happens to anyone who’s mining in real time. This negates the need for a third party institution such as banks and other financial players in a country. With it came the advantage of swift transactions. Another big plus for cryptocurrency is the fact that users remain forever anonymous and transactions are encrypted, making it impossible to track payments, an extra advantage for users with concerns to their privacy.

But with it comes a few disadvantages for the future of casinos. Though the transactions are swift, it is not possible to reverse them once they have gone through. Traditional methods of money transfer may take time to rescind transactions, but they ultimately get you your money back. It means that users are protected from schemers and fraudsters.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been fluctuating in value. It means that the future with regards to the value of a bitcoin isn’t known. The uncertainty of this cannot be overlooked.

Regulatory authorities highly regulate financial institutions. The importance of regulation cannot be underscored: it shields the industry from total meltdown, it ensures that money for the general public is protected and maintains a balance on the market. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are not regulated in any way. At least not by any regulatory authorities. In crypto, the mathematical calculations and encryption protect you.

The disadvantages mentioned above make the integration of cryptocurrencies into casinos a hard task. Knowing the money casinos rake in, they want to be sure that the “money” they have made doesn’t decrease in value and most certainly when the decrease is beyond them. This is one of the significant threats to cryptocurrency in the future of casinos. Even punters won’t be comfortable knowing that the coins they won reduced in value over a short period.

Crypto-casinos should have the same games that are featured in traditional casinos or by the very least, a similar equivalent. This has not always been the case, and as such, it also poses a threat to the future of casinos in that regard.

All online and brick and mortar casinos are regulated by different authorities created by governments, but casinos using cryptocurrencies are yet to receive the same.

Conclusion

As things stand, casinos using cryptocurrencies are still developing. However, to convince the general gambling populace into accepting it as the future of casinos, a lot of work needs to be done. Sadly, most of it directly revolves around working the base technology: cryptocurrencies.