How Bitcoin is Disrupting Online Gambling

Online gambling has become an incredibly popular alternative to going out to casinos or making trips to the races. These days you can easily place small or large bets on quite a lot of different things such as sports, card games, and even e-sports. Although online gambling is considered illegal in some countries due to its addictive nature and propensity to destroy lives, it’s still perceived to be a rewarding past-time for some and a profitable source of income in the field of gambling development outsourcing.

Betting and gambling online once relied solely on cold hard funds of those placing the bets. However, with the relatively recent introduction of Bitcoin, the way players can place their bets has drastically changed. Now you no longer need to tap into your bank accounts, provide personal information for payments or wait long periods of time to get your payouts. Bitcoin has essentially wiped out the need for a lot of these processes which has in turn been a way to deliver disruptive solutions using Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was first introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in October of 2008 to process peer to peer transactions without having to use an intermediary. The transactions go through network nodes to be verified and get recorded in what is known as a ‘blockchain.’ Get to know more about the Innovecs’ expertise in the blockchain.

A Bitcoin is able to be digitally stored on a person’s computer. This makes it act like a real currency that can be stolen, lost or destroyed. The price of a Bitcoin varies as it all depends on supply and demand, like when you invest in shares or products.

Although there were other cryptocurrencies present before Bitcoin, Bitcoin is generally referred to as the first of its kind. However, it would be more accurate to say that Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency. Despite all of this, Bitcoin is the leader of cryptocurrencies in regards to its total market value.

Being used as a solution for eCommerce and retail businesses, Bitcoin has also opened the market in blockchain application development. A blockchain application is a public ledger to show all Bitcoin transactions to have been executed. Bitcoin has also been pounced upon by criminal organizations which has heavily attracted the interest of law enforcement, financial regulators, and legislative bodies, though officials in some countries like the United States recognize that Bitcoin can also be used for totally legitimate financial services.

With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin, it’s not surprising that it has become a new payment option when thinking about top-notch gambling development expertise. The impact this has had on online gambling, and the rise in gambling development outsourcing is that since 2016, Bitcoin has needed to be integrated into the traditional online gambling industry. Of course, since the creation of Bitcoin, there have always been gambling websites that have accepted Bitcoin as payment, but as of 2016, it has become more widely regarded as a way for players to make deposits and receive payouts. Because of the large amount of attention Bitcoin receives, the online gambling industry are starting to see Bitcoin as a requirement instead of an option.

At the moment, in online gambling there is a worry that Bitcoin will continue to take it’s permanent place across the entire online gambling industry. This ideology also carries a benefit to the online gambling industry, as the role of gaming regulators could eventually become obsolete seeing as the blockchain technology rooted into Bitcoin may very well liberate gambling websites from the clutches of anti-competitive dictates of payment blocking set in place by certain governments.

In the UK, the UK Gambling Commission has already made updates to their License Conditions, and Codes of Practice to state Bitcoin is an accepted payment option for licensees. But along with that came a provision that requires licensees to put in place procedures that would prevent Bitcoin being used a money laundering process.

 

With the implementation of Bitcoin in the online gambling industry came the use of this digital currency as a way for affiliates to receive payouts. Networks of online gambling affiliates are pushing the use of Bitcoin because of difficult issues that arise when using the traditional banking system to make and receive payments. Some affiliate networks of online gambling make Bitcoin the only way to receive payments.

Some of the key features brought up that show how considerable Bitcoin is are:

  • Zero restrictions on the amount of Bitcoin that can be sent
  • Personal information isn’t a requirement for payments
  • Payouts can be processed within the hour
  • The minimum payment threshold can be lowered to $10

Even though the personal information isn’t a requirement, some online gambling websites have implemented a need for a new Bitcoin address to protect privacy for both.

Summary

Bitcoin has rapidly become a very quick and cost-effective way to process payouts for both affiliates and players. However, not all affiliate networks have made the use of payments to be accepted via Bitcoin to be mandatory. Instead, they’ve created rewarding incentives to switch to the popular P2P cryptocurrency. For example, a 10 percent bonus for those who receive payouts via Bitcoin instead of traditional payment methods.

With the amount of attention, Bitcoin is receiving from the online gambling industry, it certainly shows how much of an inconvenience it is to go through traditional banking methods. But also, those with top-notch gambling development expertise will certainly be feeling the pressure of getting around the Bitcoin implementation that does currently deliver disruptive solutions using Bitcoin. Because Bitcoin is perceived a solution for eCommerce and retail businesses, more people use them meaning more people will have the desire to use them when it comes to online gambling so it looks like the rise of Bitcoin is unavoidable.

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