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Bitcoin Might Make the Professional Gambler Rich

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Bitcoin Might Make the Professional Gambler Rich
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Bitcoin is currently very popular as an investment tool, yet it has been devised as a decentralised digital currency to pay for goods and services.

 

An industry that has rapidly increased its trade in bitcoin, is the online gambling sector, a relatively young and ever-expanding industry, currently worth no less than $46 billion globally.

Online casinos have been fulfilling the increasing demand for bitcoin as a payment method by offering players the opportunity to make deposits and withdrawals in the digital currency. As a result, professional gamblers are increasingly viewing the digital currency as an alternative method to generate income and build wealth.

ONLINE CASINOS AND PROFESSIONAL GAMBLERS; A STRAINED AFFAIR

Although many casino players, whether online or at a land-based casino, play for the thrill of winning, most play for entertainment purposes only and don’t expect to generate income on a regular basis. A small and rather invisible group of players consider themselves professional gamblers, as their aim is to make money by placing bets. With the rise of online gambling and new online casinos hitting the scene on a monthly basis, many professional players have taken their income generation online. Most are making money by playing online poker, live casino games, progressive jackpots of slot games and/ or by placing online sports bets. As more and more online casinos offer bitcoin as a payment option, professional online casino players have started to use the digital currency as part of their money- making strategies. It is not that most online casinos are keen on professional gamblers, especially those who are doing well, as they tend to cost the casino money. Professional players are therefore aiming to keep a low profile, also because some players want to avoid paying tax, as any winnings above a certain amount are taxable in most countries, that allow online gambling. Placing wagers in bitcoin can help players to remain under the radar. 

THE ADVANTAGES OF GAMBLING WITH BITCOIN

Placing bets in bitcoin has several other advantages for online casino players in general and professional gamblers in particular. Paying with bitcoins is anonymous and at several bitcoin casinos, all you need for your registration is an email address, which is, as mentioned earlier, ideal for players, who would like to keep a low profile. Pay-outs in bitcoin are often processed instantly or take a maximum of 12 hours, unlike other payment methods, for which processing times can take up days, making bitcoin withdrawals considerably faster than other payment methods. Besides these advantages, the digital currency has gained tremendously in value in the last year. Especially players, who have had their bitcoin wallet for a while, receive considerably more casino credits for their bitcoin money compared to only a few weeks ago and their income is increasing, even when they’re not playing.

BITCOIN: ADVOCATES AND CRITICS

It is well known that bitcoin and digital currencies in general have as much advocates as critics. For advocates bitcoin is the payment method for a new and freer economy, without the need for a central bank or banks as middlemen. Critics argue that the currency is not sustainable and a promotor of illegal trade and activity. A recent argument raised against bitcoin in the Financial Times, is that its environmental costs are significant, however, you could argue that conventional fiat currencies have their costs too.

Despite arguments against digital currencies, gaming authorities have acknowledged the demand for bitcoin and the UK Gambling Commission allows licensees to offer the digital currency as a payment option. As bitcoin and other digital currencies have been linked to criminal activity, UK Gambling Commission licensees need to have procedures in place, that prevent money laundering activity via their online casino. This fear of links between bitcoin use and criminal activity might be unfounded, however, as a recent EU study has concluded that criminals and terrorist organisations hardly use bitcoin or other digital currencies.

The objection against digital currencies and bitcoin in particular, might lie in that institutions of power within the current system, like banks, are significantly losing power with the rise of decentralised technologies. While this power struggle is taking place and institutions are finding their own way to deal with the phenomenon of decentralised, digital currencies, professional online gamblers attempt to make the best of what bitcoin has to offer and with increasing success.

 

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin Miner celebrates two years of hugely successful collaboration with ZBD

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Bitcoin Miner, the world’s number one Bitcoin game, is celebrating two years of its collaboration with ZBD, a leading fintech company powering digital economies for gamers and developers. Since the partnership began, Bitcoin Miner has gone from a forgotten title with no players to becoming one of the largest play-and-earn games ever, with over 2 million lifetime users.

ZBD’s Lightning-powered payments technology enables developers to inject instant rewards into their games to boost retention and community engagement. Fumb Games, the studio behind Bitcoin Miner, partnered with ZBD in March 2022 to help revive its flagship title, enabling it to reward players with fragments of Bitcoin for playing the game as normal. From the outset, the integration of ZBD’s tech had a marked impact, leading to a 12x boost in 30-day retention. Two years on, Bitcoin Miner is achieving 40,000 daily active users, making it the biggest Bitcoin game by user count.

Besides the retention benefit of rewards, which leads to player retention that exceeds 6 months, the success of Bitcoin Miner has also been fueled by community-based features such as regular live events. The majority of Bitcoin Miner players are US-based millennial males who enjoy engaging with gaming communities, with weekly events leading to a 20% increase in revenue. As well as its own community of engaged players, Bitcoin Miner benefits from the ZBD app user base of more than a million gamers.

Paul West, Founder of Fumb Games, said “Bitcoin Miner has proven that US players love games that are fun, snackable and rewarding. The  game is not only sustainable, but has soared to new heights since the partnership with ZBD. It’s no surprise that I’m very excited for the future of bitcoin and player-friendly rewarded games.”

Ben Cousens, Chief Strategy Officer at ZBD, said “The two-year collaboration with Paul and Fumb Games on Bitcoin Miner has been a quintessential success story for what we’re building at ZBD. It proves the value in offering rewards for gamers and the success of ZBD’s rewards and payments tech at making it possible at speed and scale. We will no doubt see further impressive numbers for Bitcoin Miner that cement its status as world’s number one Bitcoin game, and we also look forward to extending the potential benefits of Bitcoin rewards to more developers.”

In November 2023, Fumb Games also integrated ZBD’s technology in its idle tycoon RPG SpaceY. ZBD works with more than 100 game developers worldwide, including major brands such as Square Enix, and is also used by innovative adtech companies like Slice and AdInMo.

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Time to Invest in Crypto? SOFTSWISS 2023 iGaming Market Overview

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In 2023, crypto bets expanded by more than 20%, as reported by SOFTSWISS. The leading technology company, with over 15 years of expertise in iGaming and number one in crypto-optimised software, shares its analysis of the dynamic crypto landscape.
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

In 2023, crypto bets expanded by more than 20%, as reported by SOFTSWISS. The leading technology company, with over 15 years of expertise in iGaming and number one in crypto-optimised software, shares its analysis of the dynamic crypto landscape.

According to industry research, the global iGaming market is projected to double by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 11.7%. Revenues are expected to exceed 140 billion euro, with a significant share attributed to crypto gambling. 

SOFTSWISS, as the innovator in crypto iGaming software development, regularly conducts research to track the dynamics of crypto within the iGaming market. Using extrapolation, comparative and correlative analysis, experts analyse the data gathered from over 600 crypto-friendly brands powered by the company.

iGaming Market Overview

Based on SOFTSWISS data, the iGaming market had a stable expansion in 2023. In absolute terms in euro, the Total Bet Sum grew by 38.2% year-on-year. At the same time, the Total Bet Count displayed an even stronger increase, surpassing 51.2%

The average bet is slightly decreasing for several reasons. One significant factor is the broader reach of online gaming, fueled by advanced technology and increased internet availability. This trend is more evident in emerging markets like LatAm and Africa, where bets are usually smaller. Additionally, the increasing number of players under 30 with budget constraints adds to the decline in the average bet size.

State of Crypto

The in-depth quarterly analysis, initiated at the beginning of 2022, reveals that fiat bets are undergoing more substantial growth compared to crypto bets. In Q4’23, the Crypto Bet Sum saw an 8.2% rise in absolute terms, while the Fiat Bet Sum surged by 16.4% compared to Q3’23. At the end of 2023, the crypto share in the Total Bets Sum (27.5%)  decreased by 3.9 p.p.

The comparative analysis of the 2023 Crypto Bet Sum against  the previous year shows 21.1% growth. Simultaneously, the Crypto Bet Count increased by 50.5% year-on-year. The growing number of bets indicates rising interest in crypto gaming, but the greater availability of digital currencies may lead to slightly more economical bets.

“The advantages of employing digital currencies, such as swift transactions and anonymity, are key drivers for many players. Given these dynamics, the market demands expanding iGaming projects’ opportunities for crypto players. The in-game currency conversion, for example, allows operators to engage players with cryptocurrency assets in games initially designed for fiat transactions. The projects that embrace such possibilities continue gaining more advantageous market positions,” shares Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS.

Crypto Bet Stabilisation

The average fiat bet remained steady at around 0.82 euro throughout the previous year. Despite fluctuations in the average crypto bet during 2023, ranging from 1.59 to 1.88 euro, the changes appear modest compared to the twofold drop observed in the average crypto bet during Q4’22, which reached 1.56 euros. This indicates a certain level of stabilisation in the average crypto bet throughout 2023. 

Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS, comments: The dynamics of the average crypto bet align with crypto market fluctuations. When digital currency values stabilised in H2 2022, the average crypto bet also levelled out. Another thing is that the average crypto bet is almost two times higher than the average fiat bet, which testifies that digital currencies are potentially used by players with higher incomes. Operators should consider this to increase project profitability.”

Cryptocurrencies Rating

The Top Five most operated digital coins in iGaming landscape have remained stable during the last two years. 

In 2023, the cryptocurrency structure looks as follows:

  • Bitcoin – 73.3%
  • Ethereum – 9.9%
  • Litecoin – 6.6% 
  • Tether – 4.6%
  • Dogecoin – 3.1%

In Q4 2023, Bitcoin experienced a slight decline by a 5.7 p.p. compared to Q3 2023. Conversely, Ethereum and Litecoin showed growth of 4.7 p.p. and 2.2 p.p., respectively, during the same period.

Vitali Matsukevich, Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS, summarises: “The digital currencies market is rapidly expanding, with estimates showing over 50% growth in capitalisation in 2023. Despite the risks caused by the high volatility of crypto and its dependence on various factors, using it can bring extra profits for operators. The iGaming industry is promising for investments due to growth in both fiat and crypto markets, but success depends on trustworthy and experienced partners.

 

About SOFTSWISS 

SOFTSWISS is an international tech company supplying software solutions for managing iGaming projects. The expert team, which counts over 2,000 employees, is based in Malta, Poland, and Georgia. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides one-stop-shop iGaming software solutions. The company has a vast product portfolio, including the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with thousands of casino games, the Affilka affiliate platform, the Sportsbook Platform and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS was the first in the world to introduce a Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution.

 

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Evgeniy Babitsyn from Bets.io Comments on the Future of BTC

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Evgeniy Babitsyn from Bets.io Comments on the Future of BTC
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In January 2024, the SEC approved 11 Bitcoin ETFs, marking a significant announcement for Bitcoin and the wider crypto-market. This approval demonstrates the growing integration of traditional finance with decentralized finance. The announcement has sparked mixed reactions, with crypto experts questioning what this means for the future of tradable crypto assets. On the back of the announcement, the news that BlackRock will now be the biggest holder of Bitcoin has made the issue more complex.

Evgeniy Babitsyn, CMO of Bets.io, is an expert crypto commentator who has been closely monitoring these latest developments.

“There are pros and cons to the BTC ETF. On the one hand, it gives retail investors another avenue of access to the crypto market, allowing them to invest through a traditional finance instrument. This is important because investors not well-versed in crypto investing can find it difficult to access and invest in crypto assets,” he said. “However, the bigger point here is that BTC’s incorporation into an ETF goes against the founding principles of cryptocurrency. Its evolution is a consequence of advanced technology removing the ‘middleman’ in transactions, empowering individuals to make transactions free of bureaucratic institutions.”

When it comes to the regulation of crypto assets, Evgeniy does admit that there is a role for regulators to play. However, he advises it should not go against the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies. “While there is a role for regulation to play, having an ETF in play goes against what BTC initially set out to achieve as an alternative to traditional financial systems.”

Increased institutional involvement in crypto trading can also distort the market, posing significant questions for the future. “News is now emerging that the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is on track to becoming the biggest holder of BTC because of the ETF,” Evgeniy said. “Coupled with this, the ongoing developments from state entities to regulate crypto assets, the question now is whether the institutional embrace of BTC marks the beginning of the end for the coin, at least in its original form.”

Bets.io is a renowned brand within the world of crypto iGaming. It was launched in 2021 and has been rapidly expanding ever since. In 2022, the brand was acclaimed as The Rising Star Operator of the Year by SiGMA Europe for its ambition, results, and potential in the online entertainment industry. As such, it has been keenly watching the developments of crypto assets unfold.

Looking to the future, Evgeniy sees big announcements on the horizon. “For now, we know that 2024 will be a monumental year for the future of BTC, cryptocurrencies, and Web3.”

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