Bitcoin’s Success Set to Affect Online Gaming?
Bitcoin was launched only several years ago yet the digital currency protégé has almost become a household name. While public consensus still holds a somewhat fearful or apprehensive view of the currency, it hasn’t stopped its value from growing and growing.
Now, in 2017, it seems that Bitcoin is stronger than ever. Yes, the currency did drop after its initial bubble burst, but even that couldn’t have been called a crash. Since then, it’s slowly risen again and is now over the $1,000 mark. Some online gaming services have adopted the use of Bitcoin while other prefer to keep with traditional currencies. This new surge of interest into Bitcoin may widen its acceptance in the world of online gaming even further.
Financial industry analysts were impressed with Bitcoin’s strong start to 2017, and that means they’ll be keeping their eyes on the currency. It seems that this year will be critical for the currency’s identity, but because of its unique nature it is very hard to predict and while the idea of it being de-centralized is a big part of its charm, it’s also what makes it volatile.
The biggest markets for Bitcoin are currently the USA, Europe and China. It may seem absurd, but it’s likely that one of the main reasons for this is that the technology behind Bitcoin (known as “blockchain”) forms one of the most secure arenas for financial activity available.
One industry identifying this security benefit, as well as the currency’s other advantages, is that of online gaming. Although not every online casino has started offering Bitcoin as an available currency, it’s definitely being considered by many and those that have started, seem to be doing quite well.
As far as Canada goes, we seem to be quite open to the adoption of Bitcoin. Blockchain technology has been well received here and the general opinion is that Bitcoin will continue to have a place in our local market. The Bank of Canada admitted to testing blockchain technology, but stated that there were no specific plans to create a Canadian version of a digital currency.
A good example of Bitcoin being used in the gaming world came about last year when the UK-licensed online casino operator NetBet began offering the digital currency as a payment method. The move was extremely well received by bettors who could use the currency for sports bets as well as casino games. NetBet allows both deposits and withdrawals using Bitcoin. The Bitpay Bitcoin app made things even easier for anyone seeking to fund their casino accounts with Bitcoin, making this option even more attractive.
The core idea behind the Bitpay Bitcoin app is that it can allow conversion of Bitcoin to dollar amounts. This happens through the use of a dedicated prepaid Bitpay Visa debit card as Visa is the only card company used by Bitcoin holders in the US as the moment.
What made NetBet’s move to include Bitcoin so dramatic was that the casino gives players access to a very wide range of games. This extensive game catalog isn’t limited to one or two developers but instead includes titles from NetEnt, Microgaming, Amaya and others. So the combination of Bitcoin being available as a payment and withdrawal method with this range of games, proved to be very powerful.
It will be very interesting to see how 2017 will play out in terms of the Bitcoin story. If this can be a new way for Canadians to perform transactions related to online gaming, then that would only be a good thing. There still seems to be a lot missing when it comes to convenience and security with online transactions. Anyone who is involved in online gaming knows that this is crucial and that a trustworthy and competent solution would really make a difference to players.