Bitcoin first appeared as a new form of encrypted digital online currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. A secure online currency, untraceable to government, protected by Nakamoto’s truly incredible algorithms against fraud, Bitcoin was the future.
In 2017, its impact seems lessened. Everyone, from your 16 year-old daughter to your 82-year old father spends money online. The safety and security of online transactions is as guaranteed as walking into your bank and handing over a cheque. And as in everyday life, so it is in online gambling, like when you deposit safely to play on Lucky Nugget’s cool casino games.
More online gamblers, more reliance on traditional funding
As more and more people enter the exciting world of online gambling, they do so because the online gambling world has broadened their range of funding sources.
Where some online gambling sites once relied upon Bitcoin, now they have to accept that most of their new customers want to deposit money with them using traditional banking methods such as bank transfers and credit cards. At best, these new online gambling customers will use tried and tested names such as Paypal, Skrill, and Neteller. But bitcoins? Most of these new customers may not even have heard of the name, let alone trust it for their money.
Bitcoin casinos: the future?
For online gambling, bitcoin has one real advantage, it’s totally independent unregulated status. With more and more regulations passed year upon year, using bitcoins is seen as one possible way forward to bypass the restrictions. Add to this the relative cheapness of bitcoin transactions compared to traditional methods and you can see just why it’s a very attractive proposition for the online gambling industry.
But it’s not just the online casinos that find bitcoin attractive. Players who don’t feel comfortable with the requirements of signing up to online sites will enjoy the anonymity provided by bitcoin casinos. It also allows players in countries where online gambling is banned to sign up completely anonymously to play. A new breed of online casino sites are now springing up to make the most of the bitcoin economy and are flourishing.
Another advantage of bitcoin is the speed of its transactions. There are no fees to pay at either end of the transaction and these transactions are almost instantaneous.
Bitcoin – A niche future in online gambling
With fast transactions, no fees and complete anonymity, you can see why bitcoin online casinos will cater to a market that traditional online casinos simply can’t provide for.
But it’s unlikely that bitcoin will be anything other than a minor part of the massive upsurge in popularity of online gambling. Early adopters of online gambling may have looked for alternative, anonymous, easy ways to play online, but with online gambling’s continued success it’s welcoming a broader population. A population used to paying through banks and credit cards. It’s not that they don’t trust bitcoin, it’s more that they don’t see it as important for their online gambling experience.
