Why gaming operators should offer cryptocurrency options

This is a guest contribution by Mariana Aguilar of Fast Offshore. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

While world economies struggle and many businesses are trying to find a way to continue being profitable, online gambling has seen a huge surge in popularity. During the last 12 months, online casinos, eSports and other forms of iGaming have seen a huge increase in players. A recent Global Markets Insights report on the online gambling market predicts that the market will continue to grow exponentially and will surpass $160 billion by 2026.

Concurrently, cryptocurrency and digital currencies are also growing in adoption. As people start to abandon physical fiat currencies and look for other ways to hold and transact money, crypto has become the leading alternative option.

When you bring the two together, the result is a product that offers a wide range of benefits to both online gambling operators and customers alike.

Benefits for your business

As an online gambling operator, you might be wondering what the specific benefits of cryptocurrency integration are for your business. There are many and as crypto continues to develop, they will increase. But for now, here are some of the key bonuses for you and your business model:

Cryptocurrency is borderless. It doesn’t matter where your customers are based, you can transact quickly, easily, and in a cost-efficient manner. You do not need to wait for banks and corresponding banks to process payments, nor do you have to pay fees for currency conversion. Cryptocurrency is a truly international payment system and removes any geographical obstacles to sending and receiving payments. This is great because your business can enjoy a wider market share and cater to clients worldwide.

Chargebacks are a headache for online gambling providers and they can also result in problems with your merchant account or bank. When your customers pay in cryptocurrency, there is no way for them to initiate a chargeback. This is because cryptocurrency transactions are registered on the blockchain which is completely immutable and cannot be edited, removed, or tampered with in any way. Once the payment is made, the client cannot change it and you don’t need to worry about your account facilitator getting annoyed.

As mentioned above, cryptocurrency transactions are completely immutable and cannot be deleted or modified once they are on the blockchain. There can be no arguments or disputes about whether a payment was made or how much it was made for. This level of transparency is unheard of in fiat payment systems and is one of the leading benefits of cryptocurrency payments.

• You are in control of your payment limits

Tired of having withdrawal and deposit amounts dictated by a third party? Then cryptocurrency payments are the solution. There are no limits placed on the amount that can be deposited or withdrawn with cryptocurrency payments. This gives you more control over your finances and revenue without the interference of regulators.

There is no bank or financial services institution monitoring activity or deciding what can or cannot be transacted. No controls are placed on payments and your account cannot be frozen for any reason. This is a very valuable benefit for operators and the decentralized nature of crypto gives all power to you.

Chances are you’ve had issued with banks declining transactions, putting suspensions on accounts or payments, and various other situations. The beauty of cryptocurrency is that you are not reliant on the decisions of a bank and don’t need to worry about their decisions. With cryptocurrency, you effectively bypass banks completely, thus avoiding any of the issues that can arise when dealing with them.

• Limited regulatory interference

As it stands at the moment, there are only a handful of jurisdictions that regulate cryptocurrency payment. These include the U.K., Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands,…