A few years ago, iGaming was done with only fiat currency but this has since changed. Now, it is not unusual for an iGaming site to accept cryptocurrency alongside or even instead of fiat currency.
Players have been very enthusiastic about this shift, flocking to these sites and overall developing a healthy appetite for gambling with crypto. But why has this shift happened in the first place? We break it down in this article:
Profit
At its core, many iGamers are turning to crypto casinos because there is arguably more profit to be made from crypto. If you play iGames using fiat currency, the value of the amount you will win probably won’t change. Simply put, the value of $100 will probably be consistent.
Cryptos, on the other hand, see swings in value and this can be to a player’s advantage. If you go to a BTC casino site and win 1 BTC, for example, its value could have gone from $70,000 to over $100,000 in 2024. This chance to win assets that will appreciate in value has been a big draw for iGamers and this shows no signs of stopping.
Fast Transactions
A major pain point for many iGamers is having their winnings paid out to them. When using traditional fiat payment methods often means dealing with long wait times to have funds deposited and withdrawn. In some cases, users have to wait hours or even days to receive their winnings and this can prove to be an inconvenience. However, several cryptos allow them to get around this with ultra-fast speeds. Tokens like Ethereum, XRP, and Solana can complete transactions in only a few seconds, especially if users bid a high gas fee. For this reason, many opt for crypto when iGaming.
Lower Fees
After winning at an online casino, the last thing you want is your payment processor eating into your winnings through fees. But depending on what payment method you use, you could end up losing significant chunks of money with fees. But if you play using crypto, you can save on these fees. Take XRP, for example, which has sent millions of dollars worth of tokens in the past while only charging pennies in fees. Compared to how much you would have otherwise paid in fees, this is a major benefit. So, for as long as fiat payment methods continue to charge high fees, crypto casinos will continue to thrive.
More Control Over Assets
Using fiat currency for iGaming comes with the downside that you are at the mercy of the mainstream financial institutions that manage your money. For example, your bank can restrict your spending or even flag your account if you were to use an iGaming site. iGamers who want to be in complete control over where and how they spend their tokens would benefit a lot from crypto casinos. For starters, no one can restrict or control the activities of a crypto wallet but the owner. Even the wallet makers cannot decide how much of your money you spend when you spend it, and where. Because crypto is fully decentralized, it offers players a level of control they would not find anywhere else.
Privacy
These days, many of us are hyper-aware of our privacy online and how our data is being used. When you sign up for a typical iGaming site, you’ll need to provide information like your government ID, name, address, bank details, and much more. But iGaming fans who are more concerned about privacy can bypass this issue by using crypto casinos. Many crypto casinos allow players to gamble without creating an account directly. Instead, they can simply connect their crypto wallets and have funds deposited and withdrawn as they need. Just like with control over their assets, this is a level of privacy they will hardly find anywhere else.
Extra Perks
Crypto casinos, in a bid to secure more use, often give perks to players that they won’t find in a traditional iGaming site. For example, some crypto casinos have native tokens that can be staked, used to unlock more perks, and so on. iGamers looking for a unique experience can benefit from crypto casinos and this drives their use.
