Bitcoin is not the first thing that you picture when you think of sports betting. This cryptocurrency is seen as an investment, an e-commerce payment option, and even a legal tender, as we have recently seen in El Salvador.
But to those in the know, Bitcoin is also the future of sports betting and online gambling in general. The Bitcoin gambling sector is growing at a phenomenal rate, and sportsbooks, developers, and players are scrambling to become a part of it.
Why is bitcoin so popular with sports books?
There are several reasons behind the rise of Bitcoin in the online gambling sector.The first is the success of Bitcoin in general and the fact that the online gambling sector is willing to experiment where other sectors aren't. It was one of the first to wholly embrace cryptocurrencies, and as Bitcoin was so widespread at the time, with investors hoarding their coins and seeking a way to spend them, everything fell into place.
Secondly, consumer habits have changed a lot over the last few years and there has been a greater number of online gamblers who also invest in cryptocurrencies.
Whether it's a generational thing or the fact that online gamblers are more technologically inclined, it seems that people in the online gambling demographic are also in the cryptocurrency demographic, and once the two combined, a new age of transactional gambling began.
The rise of eSports is a great example of this. As little as 10 years ago, eSport gambling was obscure and mostly focused on wagers for in-game items, known as "skins". They were poorly regulated and existed in a grey area. These days, eSports gambling is not only regulated and tightly controlled, but it also accounts for some of the most popular gambling markets online.
Cryptocurrency investors tend to be aged between 20 and 50. They grew up playing video games and have embraced eSports in all its forms. The fact that they can gamble with their investment makes perfect sense and has helped Bitcoin sports books, as well as Bitcoin casinos, to grow.
The pros and bitcoin sportsbooks
Obviously, being in the right place at the right time isn't the only reason that Bitcoin casinos have thrived over the last few years.One of the driving forces behind their success is the fact that Bitcoin payments are processed instantly and without cost. That makes them more preferable to the majority of traditional payment methods currently used in online casinos.
Pay By Mobile, credit cards, and bank transfers all charge a fee. These methods are also slow, as are debit cards.
Even web wallets are not without their issues.
PayPal is rarely accepted in casinos outside of the UK because there are a lot of terms and regulations that can complicate its use. Skrill and Neteller are often excluded from bonuses as they can be costly for casinos to use, charging them transaction/merchant fees.
Bitcoin doesn't have any of those issues and so it's a better option for players, as well as sportsbooks.
The cons of bitcoin sportsbooks
For all of the obvious advantages of Bitcoin sportsbooks, there are also a few downsides. These are minor, and they clearly haven't stopped these sites from growing, but they are noteworthy, nonetheless.Bitcoin, unlike traditional currencies, is highly volatile and it's not uncommon for hundreds and even thousands of Euros to be wiped off the value of a coin in a single day. If you deposit €1,000 worth of Bitcoin into your account today and don't touch it for a week, it could be worth anywhere from €750 to €1,250 on average, and if the markets are particularly volatile at that time, the difference could be even greater.
Bitcoin can also be a little more complicated for inexperienced users. If you're not familiar with the process of acquiring and spending cryptocurrency, it can all be a little daunting and confusing.
You could argue that the same is true for methods like PayPal, as users need to sign up for an account, verify that account, activate two-factor authentication, deposit money, and then start transferring.
However, PayPal has been around for a lot longer. It is much more familiar to the average internet user, and the process isn't too far removed from other online payment methods and even other online accounts. The same can't be said for crypto, where players need to sign up for unfamiliar exchanges, download wallets, and use codes to transfer money as opposed to account logins.
Still, these issues are clearly minor, as the number of Bitcoin players is increasing all of the time and Bitcoin sportsbooks are on the rise.
This industry has come a long way in the last few years, but it's still only just beginning and we're expecting many bigger things to come.
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