SOFTSWISS: Crypto are ‘an obvious trend in the gaming industry’

SOFTSIWSS’s COO Andrey Starovoitov has described the increased use of cryptocurrency in the gambling sector as an ‘obvious trend’, as Bitcoin in particular is leveraged more and more.

Publishing the 2021 full-year financial results for its Game Aggregator platform, the betting software provider, SOFTSWISS, has reported that 40% of all currencies used in 2021 were cryptocurrencies, an increase on the 2020 figure of 20%. 

Bitcoin is the most popular, accounting for 83.3% of crypto transactions – ranking fifth placed in the aggregator’s most used currencies for the year – followed by Ethereum at 8% and Litecoin at 3.9%. Additionally, SOFTSWISS now offers over 3,000 games optimised for cryptocurrency.

“SOFTSWISS has long been known as a leading B2B crypto solution provider, and this past year has proven that once again,” said Andrey Starovoitov, SOFTSWISS COO.

“Cryptocurrencies are an obvious trend in the gambling industry, so in our development we put special emphasis on their use. The 2021 figures are the expected result of the company’s strategy to expand its portfolio with crypto products.”

Speaking to Payment Expert last month, Cyrus Naini, CEO of Green Brick Labs (GBL), highlighted how transparency is the primary benefit of the blockchain and crypto space for the betting and gaming industry. 

He detailed how crypto has gone from being a ‘niche market’ to more widespread ‘mainstream adoption’, remarking: “For operators, there’s a level of trust in terms of knowing where a user’s coin has been, especially if it has been used by a nefarious source. 

“If you look at our work with Isle of Man-regulated companies such as Maverick, operators have to prove that they have done due diligence in their transactions, and we can work with some third party firms – depending on the operator – to see if funds have been used in the dark web, for money laundering, or any other purpose.”

Outside of crypto, additional SOFTSWISS figures for 2021 showed that annual GGR increased from €130 million in January to €250 million in December, whilst the sum of bets doubled from €3.3 billion to €6.5 billion.

These figures were driven by the delivery of games to ‘several new markets’, including Japan, Brazil, Argentina, India and Tunisia. Total yearly GGR, meanwhile, totalled €200 million in comparison to the 2020 full year figure of €88 million.

Additionally, the average bet sum stood at €5 billion per month, whilst in 2020 average monthly sums were recorded at €2.2 billion – a growth rate of 130%.

Lastly, SOFTSWISS has reported that 40% of all currencies used in 2021 were cryptocurrencies, an increase on the 2020 figure of 20%. Bitcoin is the most popular, accounting for 83.3% of crypto transactions – ranking fifth placed in the aggregator’s most used currencies for the year – followed by Ethereum at 8% and Litecoin at 3.9%.

The SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator was able to secure 60 clients and over 20 game providers in 2020, with customers including BCGame – the Head of Operations of which, Chris Butler, spoke to SBC News earlier this year.

“Our partnership with SoftSwiss was no accident,” he remarked when discussing BCGame’s leveraging of the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator. “We performed several months of research, due diligence and had countless meetings with just about every company in the industry. 

“This was a big decision for us so we had to be certain that all of our criteria could be met. BCGame is a one-of-a-kind brand that does not fit into any mold. SOFTSWISS is the only company that can handle all the unique components that come with our partnership.”