Cryptocurrency has become a prominent means of payment in the betting sector, but engagement with the digital currencies is inconsistent from operator-to-operator.
Global crypto has been enjoying a peak this year, with notable regulatory developments seeing the value of Bitcoin reach new heights. The election of Donald Trump earlier this week, a vocally pro-crypto politician, has further fueled the fire.
In this context, CasinoRIX, a casino comparison platform, has released a report examining the extent of crypto gaming payments. According to the group, a number of operators are reporting a ‘steady rise’ in crypto usage.
“Crypto players are still niche players, but their value is on average 3x higher than fiat players,” read a statement from TonyBet, a betting and gaming group headquartered in Estonia.
The company continued: “The most important expectations for crypto players are instant withdrawals and access to top games, including popular crypto games.”
Crypto’s value on the market rebounded significantly this year after encountering some hurdles in 2022 and 2023. Most notable was the collapse of FTX in late 2022, which dealt a significant blow to crypto valuation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw value rebound significantly, with the Bitcoin halving event driving value even more.
However, despite the improving lot of cryptocurrency on the global markets some have observed a decline in the number of gambling transactions. Earlier this year, a report from SOFTSWISS, a gaming technology firm, found that the number of crypto bets declined by 20%.
Overall, fiat remains the dominant means of payment for gaming. This is almost certainly due to fiat currencies use in day-to-day life in general – as TonyBet noted, crypto users remain a niche – as well as the fact crypto betting is a grey area in many jurisdictions or outright illegal in others.
SOFTSWISS found that the fiat bet sum in H1 2024 rose by 65.2%, as opposed to a small increase for crypto of 2.3%. Though stakeholders are seeing an increase in interest in crypto, particularly among younger demographics, it is not showing signs of catching up fiat any time soon.
A statement from 22Bet, a betting affiliate network, shared its experience: “Over the past year, we’ve seen a decline in crypto usage among our users. In 2023, 1.9% of unique users utilised crypto, but by 2024, this dropped to 1.6%.
“Additionally, the share of transactions conducted in crypto fell significantly, from 9.9% in 2023 to just 2.4% in 2024. This trend suggests a notable reduction in crypto engagement on our platform.”
