The crypto gambling industry has exploded throughout the last couple of years. Firstly, we’ve all witnessed the rise of online casinos that have quickly taken over land-based establishments, so it was only a matter of time before they understood the potential behind including cryptocurrency in the mix. That’s why. Nowadays, we have online casinos that are entirely focused on cryptocurrency.
Crypto gambling sees two different types of coins being used – coins or altcoins and tokens. They are all in circulation on different gambling websites, with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) being the three most popular cryptocurrencies used in the crypto gambling market. One should keep in mind that dozens of online casinos will also make it possible for a person to gamble using other coins, such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Binance Coin (BNB), so there’s no need for someone to give up on their stock of coins just yet.
While many different cryptocurrencies players can rely on, even more games are popular among players of different ages. Blackjack VIP seems to be THE game that’s dominating the crypto gambling market, closely followed by games such as Wild Spin, Book of Cats, and Elvis Frog in Vegas.
That being said, there’s more to look out for once a person decides to give crypto gambling a go. Apart from choosing their preferred cryptocurrency and being determined to win, it’s also important to consider how they want to get there. In 2022, mobile gaming dominated the market, with the largest percentage of players deciding to go for non-PC gaming. That makes sense, considering how much time we spend on our phones daily.
Crypto-Gambling Market Overview – Global growth analyses
To say that the crypto gambling market grew and expanded over the last five or so years would be a huge understatement. It should suffice to say that the global crypto gambling market has reached 4,6 billion US dollars, upping the revenue from the year 2021. And the crypto gambling market growth up until now is nothing in comparison to the high expectations and stellar predictions related to the crypto gambling industry. By 2030, the market is expected to grow to reach a staggering number of 65,7 billion US dollars.
It didn’t take long for crypto to dominate the market once it became available. Only a few short years have passed from the moment it entered the scene until it became everyone’s top choice. At the beginning of 2021, crypto bets made up 22% of total bets. But fast-forward a year later and that number grew by 115%.
Looking at the different coins that we have on the crypto gambling market and how well they fare, it’s evident that Bitcoin takes center stage with 72,7% of bets being placed in this currency. The next one to follow is Ethereum, which had an interesting year of its own. The aforementioned are most popular among players that are spending significant amounts, i.e. high rollers. On the other hand, those that prefer to keep their stacks low-risk stick to the altcoins. As one of the altcoins mentioned, Ether is used by 10% of bettors. Litecoin has also blossomed in recent years and is responsible for approximately 6% of all crypto bets. All the other cryptocurrencies, such as Dogecoin and Cardano, make up the remaining 4%.
Offering a wide variety of cryptocurrencies to accommodate the diverse preferences of their users. By offering a variety of cryptocurrencies, operators can appeal to a broader audience, increase adoption, and acquire new users from those cryptocurrency communities.
Hunnyplay casino representative
Crypto Gambling Dominance in North America
It probably won’t come as a surprise that the United States of America is the place where crypto gambling (and online gambling in general) is in full bloom. Some say that gambling is deeply rooted in American culture, and the American Gaming Association seems to support that fact. According to their reports, in 2021, commercial gaming brought in approximately 52.99 billion US dollars in profit. With 48% of millennials and 36% of Gen Zers exclusively wagering online, the market certainly doesn’t lack digital natives who will put their money toward gambling. Likewise, according to the American Gaming Association, Nevada is the state that leads the way when it comes to the gross gaming revenue of casinos. It is followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and New York.
The Rising LATAM Market: Crypto Gambling Growth in Latin America
The gambling market of Latin America is another market that is experiencing significant growth. In fact, Latin America takes second place when it comes to the development of the regional market, as it’s located right behind the USA. The gambling industry in this area is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.4% between the years 2022-2028. Out of all the countries in Latin America, Brazil is the one that leads the way when it comes to revenue share which is interesting, seeing that many gambling activities are not legal in the nation.
European Crypto Gambling Landscape: Steady Market Growth
Europe is yet another area where there’s high interest in crypto gambling and online gaming as a whole. That’s the reason why Europe’s online gambling market reached 37.4 billion US dollars in the year 2022, and is expected to reach 59 billion US dollars by 2028. That exhibits a CAGR rate of 7.6%, which might seem modest in comparison to Latin America’s rate. But one has to remember that gambling is already a pretty developed activity in Europe, as many Europeans have given some form of gambling a go in their lifetimes. That’s probably why the general consensus is that the crypto gambling market is going to have a ‘very small’ to ‘small’ growth potential in the coming years.
Africa’s Crypto Adoption: Fostering Gambling Market Expansion
And that brings us to Africa – a country that is experiencing exponential growth in cryptocurrency adoption. In fact, CEOs and business owners in South Africa have never used cryptocurrency in the volume that they are using it today. So it’s only natural that the crypto and gambling market would flourish, as well. Couple that with the continent’s large population and the result is a recipe for success and the crypto gambling market’s growth.
Asia-Pacific: Leading the Crypto Gambling Market with Blockchain-friendly Regulations
It is not surprising to see the reports stating that the Asian-Pacific market is accumulating the most significant share of the crypto gambling market. This phenomenon is most likely due to blockchain-friendly regulations that this region is imposing. Japan has recorded the highest crypto gambling growth rate, while the Philippines has the most increased spending rate.
Trends in the Crypto Gambling Market
The Emergence of Decentralized Gambling Platforms
Any time there’s a market that’s as developed as the crypto gambling one, there are going to be many innovations. Decentralized gambling platforms might not be new, as the first one, Satoshi Dice, was launched way back in 2012. However, many decentralized platforms have been added to the market, as players love that they can be safe while playing. Decentralized gambling platforms are founded on the backbone of blockchain technology, and there are now upwards of 35 of them in circulation.
Casino Streaming Phenomenon: Twitch Takes the Lead
Another trend that even turned into a full-time occupation is casino streaming. Casino streaming has been around since late 2015, and it has evolved beyond every expectation, especially after streaming platforms such as Twitch entered the scene. In fact, in 2022, casino streaming on Twitch reached more people than other gambling-related content on YouTube. Twitch represents 95.9% of the total viewership, leaving YouTube with a little over 4%.
Top Slot Machines in the Crypto Gambling World
With casino streaming being as popular as it is, it was only inevitable for some games to become more popular than others – like Wanted Dead or A Wild. Some could argue that this is one of the most popular casino games ever and has become synonymous with casino streaming. People watching casino streams have spent 1.2 billion minutes watching this game, which is absolutely the highest number that can be seen for one game.
Another casino slot that has experienced exponential growth (which is still rising by the day) is Sweet Bonanza. It’s thought to be one of the most influential games in recent times, and it has been watched for more than half a billion minutes by people. The interest in this game is currently at an all-time high, which is backed up by what we see on Google Analytics.
Another game we’d like to touch upon is the Book of Dead. This casino slot has been popular since its conception, as it was released at just the perfect time – the beginning of 2016. Since then, people have spent more than 300 million minutes watching casino streamers play this game, and the game’s popularity has been steady over the last three years.
It’s safe to say that all of these different casino games and decentralized gambling platforms which were mentioned earlier aren’t the only ones with huge growth potential. Research clearly shows that mobile casino games and betting take the lead when it comes to predicted growth, and live casinos and betting closely follow them. That’s why many casinos are now concentrating on introducing mobile platforms that will provide players with direct access to live casino games.
The overall interest in online gambling isn’t waning, as statistics show that the interest in this market is steady, with a few spikes in the positive direction happening from time to time.
What might come as a surprise to some is to see which regions were the most interested ones in online gambling, as the results don’t include countries in the US and Europe. The top five regions interested in online gambling are:
Nowadays, crypto casinos are a huge part of the online gambling market. That’s only to be expected with the incredible rise in the popularity of different cryptocurrencies. Truth be told, at one point, the worldwide interest in the crypto gambling market was higher at the beginning of 2022 than it was at the end of the year. But if we were to look at January 1st and December 31st, the popularity of crypto casinos was higher at the end of the year.
While the areas where interest in online gambling was the highest might surprise some, the following chart should bring no surprises. The areas most interested in crypto gambling in 2022 were:
We’ve already mentioned that, at the moment, Bitcoin is still a currency that’s at the very top of the crypto gambling business. BTC is still predominantly used when players decide to go for online gambling. HOWEVER – we have to say that, compared to the beginning of 2022, the interest in this cryptocurrency was lower at the end of the year. This most likely has a lot to do with the rise of Ethereum, which has gone through a groundbreaking process that’s known as the Merge.
We know that the crypto market is ever-changing and continues to bring out new narratives and coins. We try to stay ahead of the curve and offer our users deeper gambling opportunities by adding new currencies as well as NFTs
representative of BC.Game stated.
While players are always interested in Bitcoin no matter the area, some places still exhibit more interest in BTC. The five regions most interested are:
Future Outlook for the Crypto Gambling Market
We’ve already covered some long-term predictions, and we can conclude that the future is bright based on them. But if we were to ask the best crypto experts around, they would say that 2023 might not be as bright as one would hope. Make no mistake – the crypto gambling business has a huge potential to come on top this year. However, it’s inevitable that the worldwide economy will be in a state of crisis, so the crypto market growth might slow down a bit. This doesn’t mean that the market will crash or lose its value – but the growth is expected to be around 15%.
Short-term Predictions and Expert Opinions
Many experts frequently weigh in on the success and development of the crypto gambling business. That’s why we have available statistics showing that the largest percentage of experts (42%) agree that the prognosis and outlook for the business are GOOD. As many as 40% of them agree that the prognosis is SATISFACTORY, with only 18% of experts assessing the future business situation as POOR.
That being said, we have to mention that the crypto gambling market has a huge potential to witness even more significant growth, as there are many areas worldwide where gambling is yet to be regulated – but there are just as many areas where there are certain regulations in place. The US is an area with specific laws that neither ban nor regulate crypto gambling on a federal level. Each US state has its own separate laws and is allowed to introduce regulations regarding the usage of cryptocurrencies. Even though the crypto gambling market size is huge and it comes with exponential room for further improvement, most US states still prefer to ban all gambling activities. In fact, it’s only Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia that let online casinos operate in their states.
Crypto Gambling Regulations in Key Markets
The UK is another area where gambling is regulated – and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission regulates it. This governmental body has issued a position paper, which touches upon crypto gambling. Online casinos that want to accept crypto payments must meet AML obligations and employ proper verification providers.
Next up, we have Canada – a country with a rather peculiar position when it comes to online gambling regulations. Not only does every province have the right to regulate its own territory, but Canada’s regulations are very harsh for domestic casinos, not providing them with an optimal chance for success.
Even though Europe has the largest iGaming sector in the world, with 49% of the worldwide gambling market being here, not every country has yet legalized and regulated gambling. It’s enough to say that Germany, which is one of the biggest forces in Western Europe, has recently opened and regulated its online slot/casino market. This comes as no surprise, as almost every European country is legalizing its gambling market.
Keep in mind that there are many areas that have no plan to regulate the iGaming sector. In fact, many countries have either banned or restricted all gambling activity, such as Iraq, Qatar, Bangladesh, Algeria, and Bahrain. And since crypto gambling is neither allowed nor prohibited in many countries around the world, there’s still plenty of room for progress and further development of this huge sector.
Challenges and Opportunities in the Crypto Gambling Market
Unfortunately, not everything is all butterflies and rainbows when it comes to the crypto gambling market. One of the challenges the industry faces certainly revolves around the unregulated markets of many countries whose residents can’t access online casinos – at least they can’t do so legally. And while there’s still some hope for the residents of those areas as the market can become regulated in the future, other areas (like the ones mentioned above) are entirely against the idea of gambling.
Another potential problem that could have people doubting whether to invest in cryptocurrencies is their volatility. In the financial world, the word volatility refers to a deviation in the price of an asset. Crypto coins are definitely a valuable digital asset that could be the future of money, although that’s still years ahead. They are seen as both high-risk and high-reward assets. The price of every cryptocurrency can dramatically go up or down, and it’s usually impossible to predict how the price will shift. The uncertainty that comes with investing in crypto is enough to prevent any person from making a final decision.
That’s far from the last of the challenges that the crypto gambling business faces. Another revolves around incorporating fiat currency, which is already accepted in many online casinos. However, accepting fiat currency in crypto casinos is something that raises quite a few issues. Besides the volatility we have already mentioned, the industry also faces fees that come with using conventional payment processors. While they are a requirement for accepting fiat currency, they come with expensive fees for handling transactions or exchanging currencies. These sites can also run into additional issues of extra regulations, as they need to be governed by a number of laws. Not complying with these rules can result in numerous complications, such as facing different fines.
Keep in mind that, while there might be threats and complications, none of that takes away from the fact that crypto gambling is a lucrative market. It has been in the last couple of years and everything suggests that it will continue to be one in the years to come.
Another concern is the transaction speed. Even for chains like Solana, EOS, and COSMOS with the highest TPS, it is still slower than centralized servers. The ambiguity surrounding blockchain transactions is an additional problem. The first bet confirmation may come in a matter of seconds, while the second one might not come for another five minutes. Except for individuals who are ready to sacrifice user experience for extreme decentralization, this is utterly intolerable for the majority of gamers.
So to stand out in this competitive market, we believe that tailoring our product and providing exceptional user experiences is crucial. This involves personalizing our product to meet the needs of individual players, as well as optimizing our communication flows and incentives to cater to different player groups. Additionally, we want to create a vibrant user community and continually improve our interface based on user behavior analytics and rigorous usability testing.’
Representative from renowned crypto casino, Trustdice.
Navigating the Future of the Crypto Gambling Market
We have no worries regarding the future of the crypto gambling market. With a predicted CAGR of 11.7% from 2023 to 2030 and the current global crypto gambling market size value of 4,6 billion US dollars, everything points to a few very successful years for the industry. Crypto gambling market size growth will be different for all the regions in the world, depending on the individual problems and regulations they will encounter. The market might have to face some challenges in the coming days and years, but that doesn’t make it any different than any other industry. But as soon as we put everything on paper, it becomes the rise of crypto, and its potential by far surpasses any problem that its users might face.
Crypto gambling, in particular, will bloom in the coming years, and the change is going to be felt worldwide (minus the countries that prohibit all forms of gambling). New countries are seeing the potential of legalizing their online casino market and how much they stand to profit from crypto gambling. All of that points to even further market growth, which only makes sense, considering the fact that crypto transactions are safe, secure, and efficient. Likewise, online casinos have been blooming for quite some time, as they combine entertainment and convenience. Put the two together and there’s a perfect mix that’s hard to beat.
Sources:
- https://www.softswiss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SOFTSWISS-State-of-Crypto-in-Q3-2022.pdf
- https://view.publitas.com/mecn2/online-gambling-quarterly
- https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/blockchain-gaming-market-167926225.html
- https://www.softswiss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SOFTSWISS-State-of-Crypto-in-Q3-2022.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_the_United_States
The one who started the CryptoGamble and brought the team together. He has a clear idea of what our brand is and should be and is tirelessly working on getting it closer to the forefront of the industry. When he’s not traveling and spreading the word about the brand, he enjoys playing video games, especially GTA, which inspired the website. It is worth mentioning that Cosmin trains boxing, which could be helpful when managing a team.
