As the global economy begins to recover from the disruptions of the current health pandemic, the role of digital currency can become increasingly important. This is specifically the case for the betting and gaming sector, which has already shown an eagerness to embrace digital currency, due to the speed and transparency it brings.
Rebecca Liggero, lead reporter of Ayre Media, posed the question of what operators can do in terms of communication when it comes to crypto, and how they can maximise its use as a method of currency for its players.
Speaking on the Blockchain payments as a driver in crisis panel during day four of the SBC Digital Summit Lloyd Purser, COO of Funfair Technologies, emphasised his belief that although education is a major part of bringing new players to crypto, there are also many other factors involved.
He said: “Education is a major part of what we are trying to do but on top of that we also have to do significant improvements in our product, adding new features, adding new suppliers, there’s a marketing effort as well that has to go into it.
“It really is a bit of everything, there’s no magic silver bullet to move people onto the blockchain, we have to improve our product and onboarding journey, we have built our own wallet, something we never would have done if we didn’t have to, but frankly we had to, in order to make the user experience good enough.”
“We have tried to make a simplified process out of what seems very complex and the wallet is a key part of that.”
Max Krupyshev, CEO of CryptoProcessing.com by CoinsPaid, argued against Purser’s case and revealed that he witnesses a lot of mistakes when new operators begin to integrate crypto payment methods.
He explained: “You try to keep the disruption low, which is against what Lloyd is saying. Creating blockchains in casinos is an amazing idea, it is disrupting the whole industry but the element of dedication is huge but you need to get the first step right.
“You have a big brand, you have a user base so just help them to use this as an option and then see if you want to get more users.
“Education, in general, is very important. I want this panel to explain to our listeners what to get right if they want to enable cryptocurrency.
“I see a lot of mistakes when the operators start working with cryptocurrency, they misunderstand the flows. The key point which created a bad impression from the start was accepting cryptocurrency. You have to make sure your players don’t wait, they have to make sure that when the money is sent the player gets the money within seconds.
“Then you have to make sure that the exchange rate is fair, when a player deposits €100 into his account he needs to receive said €100. It should then fit into the existing flow, you don’t have to change your cashier completely for the crypto. Finally follow the big players who have been using crypto for years, these are the people who have got it right.
Tom Bloor, sales manager at Cryptopay, echoed Krupyshev’s point and was keen to highlight the importance of keeping it simple. He said: “The more you know about your customers and what they like, the better. This is the main job of an operator, if you don’t know your customer well you can’t retain them and then you can’t grow.
“If you know what your customer behaviour is and you know if they prefer convenience or transparency this should inform how you plug in and accept how you are going to work with cryptocurrency.
Isabelle Delisle, head of payments at Pinnacle, expressed her belief that the biggest challenge surrounding cryptocurrency is its perception. She added: “To get something to go mainstream you have to get the buy-in of the big players and the perception has to be there but if you talk to a bank about crypto, the first thing they think of it you’re doing something dodgy.
“One of the things that we have to do is to start talking about this as a legitimate product and really educate the people who are responsible for making the regulations and financial decisions and speak to banks to make them understand the product better.”
The SBC Digital Summit is a truly groundbreaking online event for the betting and gaming industry, offering up to 10,000 delegates a fully virtual and interactive conference, exhibition and networking experience. It takes place all this week, up to and including Friday May 1.
With global business communities in the grip of the COVID-19 crisis, the Summit was created as a platform for the industry to connect and share knowledge amid critical and unprecedented conditions.
The SBC Digital Summit runs from 27 April to 1 May 2020 and features seven conference tracks, a virtual exhibition and virtual networking lounges, attracting an estimated 10,000 delegates logging in from around the world.
There is still time to register for the event, with company discounts available: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-digital-summit/tickets/
