A Focus on Cryptocurrencies and Crypto Casinos
Have you bought cryptocurrencies yourself or know someone who buys? Do you even remember when you first heard of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin? Regardless if you own crypto or not, chances are you have already heard and read about it on the news. Some people are more advanced and have embraced this modern banking method of payment from its early beginning while others are late adaptors and have not started using it at all. Crypto is similar to technological gadgets and an interesting subject for behavioural finance, a clear indicator to show how our brain works in terms of money. Just like in the movie the Matrix, nowadays crypto is believed to be everywhere, “It is all around us. Even now, in this very room.”
How Is Crypto Used in the Real World?
Cryptocurrencies have been used in more routine daily payments than one might expect. Back in 2013, The University of Nicosia in Cyprus allowed students to pay for their tuition with Bitcoins. You can buy real estate such as a luxury brand new chalet in the French Alps or an Eastern Canada 5 star restaurant. If that is not enough, how about an exclusive villa between Malaga and Marbella? For those interested check out bitcoin-realestate.com a website offering real estate using Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin.
Similar to other industries, blockchain has been an investment and means of payment for many casino operators. To understand crypto casinos better, let’s have a look at the core behind them, the cryptocurrencies.
How Crypto (Currencies) Started?
Cryptocurrencies or crypto is a digital currency or means of exchange that works via a peer-to-peer electronic payment system with no need of intermediaries such as banks. The cryptocurrency blockchain is the public accounting ledger with all the transactions. The most popular of all cryptos is the Bitcoin. Bitcoin has dated back since 2009 when it came out as a creation by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. To this date, Bitcoins work with pseudonyms, and it is not publically known if Satoshi Nakamoto is a single person or a group of people. According to Wikipedia, Bitcoin is considered to be the first decentralized cryptocurrency.
How Does It Work and What Can I Buy?
Although at first the Bitcoin network and the way it operates seems straightforward. The logistics, programming, open source nature and mining of Bitcoins are in essence fairly complex and beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested to learn more in detail, please visit www.bitcoin.org.
As the website states, for most of the Bitcoin users, the Bitcoin is not much more than a regular app you might install on your phone or computer. The Bitcoin users have a Bitcoin wallet which they use to pay and withdraw money, in this case, Bitcoins.
More and more people and businesses are adopting Bitcoin and crypto as means of payment and exchange. “As of May 2018, the total value of all existing bitcoins exceeded 100 billion US dollars, with millions of dollars worth of bitcoins exchanged daily,” as per information from bitcoin.org.
How Much Does It Cost?
Similar to most currencies, Bitcoin prices are fluctuating. However, it should be noted that the Bitcoin price is certainly much more volatile than most currencies. As of January 10, 2019, a Bitcoin is trading at 3,286.80 Euros. In terms of pricing, at the very beginning people would exchange Bitcoins for nothing or at a very low amount. Bitcoin’s current all time high price is from December 2017, a little shorter of USD $20,000.
When It Comes to Cryptocurrencies Are Business Walking the Walk?
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the big four accounting firms in the world, has reported that many of its clients are investing in blockchain. The blockchain investment spent is expected to grow. Not surprisingly, PwC’s company website includes a blockchain service offering as well as an end-to-end blockchain implementation solution. According to Gartner’s forecasts, blockchain will generate an annual business value of more than USD $3 trillion by 2030.
What Is a Crypto Casino?
Casinos are usually early adopters of anything new, be it Gamification, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and needless to say crypto. Online casinos are existing in an extremely competitive environment, and only the best of the best survive in the market. Just as Bitcoin was the first crypto, the Bitcoin casino was the first type of crypto casino. Nowadays, crypto casinos are accepting more and more crypto currencies.
As many casinos are trying very hard to attract you, the player, to play on their casino vs. the competitors’, it can be expected that casinos will implement cryptocurrencies. One of the biggest advantages for the player is the instant payment the player receives when playing on crypto casinos.
Is a Crypto Casino Different than a Regular Casino?
There are slight difference between the two splits of casinos, and those are based on the nature of cryptocurrencies. When you play a regular online casino your payment methods, and transactions are done by an intermediary, whether it is a bank or an online payment system such as Neteller or Skrill. The intermediary would be the party that verifies the transactions happening between the casino and the player. On the other hand, crypto casinos use cryptocurrencies, and there are no intermediaries involved. One of the biggest advantages is that crypto casinos offer you anonymity.
Advantages of the Crypto Casinos
Anonymity is namely the number one advantage of using crypto casinos. In some cases, you do not even have to open an account with the casino. However, in all cases when gambling in crypto casinos, you remain anonymous. Other benefits include the fast deposit and withdrawals. What is most important of all, due to the technology behind cryptocurrencies and their use in the casino market, cryptocurrencies make transactions transparent, ensuring fair gaming. Much to the players’ benefit, crypto casinos are offering a variety of cryptocurrencies that players can choose from, but most of them use Bitcoin. The good news for the players is that more and more crypto casinos are emerging on the market as the demand for them is constantly growing.
Clearly, not all crypto casinos should be trusted, and you need to make sure you are playing a reputable casino. More on that at the end of the article. Let’s look at a few crypto casino brands that we do recommend to players.
Recommended Crypto Casinos
The list bellows contains crypto casinos that have been around on the market. These are licensed and well established brands that are well known in the industry. If you have no experience playing any crypto casinos but would like to give them a try, we do recommend you try from the list below:
bitStarz Casino
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Award winning online Casino accepting both crypto and international currencies. BitStarz is a small group of casino-enthusiast who are all casino players. At BitStarz they love what they do and are putting theirs efforts into things that they as players care about, such as fast payments, solid games, and a quick support. BitStarz Casino makes sure that you get quality, where it matters the most!
When you land a big win at BitStarz, and you want to withdraw that money right away, you can. To help you, they have put together a cutting-edge auto-processing system that is processing your withdrawal with the speed of light. The average cashout time at BitStarz is no longer than 10 minutes.
Everyone is claiming to have experienced support. BitStarz Casino take this even further. All support agents at BitStarz have at least 3 years of casino experience, and they know BitStarz and the industry inside and out.
What crypto currencies do they accept?
Bitcoin.
What games do they offer?
The games you can play using cryptocurrencies are: BGAMING, Belatra, Booming Games, Endorphina, Evolution, Habanero, Platipus, and Spinomenal
LadyHammer Casino
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Thanks to modern software and technology, the highest level of protection of privacy and customer security, a wide variety of game concepts, innovative new releases, and highly competent customer support, Ladyhammer can ensure that you always get the best possible gaming experience, security, and guidance. Ladyhammer Casino guarantees fair play and honest gaming. They are also aware of their responsibility towards players and society. The Casino control system verifies their games permanently to prevent problems and to avoid abuse by minors.
What crypto currencies do they accept?
Lady Hammer Casino accepts Bitcoin.
What games do they offer?
Lady Hammer Casino offers a wide variety of game concepts: Slots, Jackpots, Live, Roulette, Cards, Video Poker.
PlayAmo
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Players at Playamo Casino will find many of the world’s most popular online slots from many popular providers. These include hit NetEnt slots like Starburst slot and Guns N’ Roses slot, SoftSwiss favorites like Aztec Magic slot and Brave Viking slot, and many others such as Sushi slot and Blast! Boom! Bang! slot.
Although slots make up the majority of Playamo Casino’s games, a fair number of virtual favorites are available as well. The Roulette section is particularly diverse, offering more than a dozen different variants. Players will also find Blackjack and a handful of video poker games. Unfortunately, there is no table poker or other casino specialties at this time.
What crypto currencies do they accept?
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin
What games do they offer?
A wide variety of Bitcoin games.
Joo Casino
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Joo Casino is an online casino owned and operated by Direx N.V which offers a large number of online games from the best suppliers as NetEnt and Microgaming. Selection of casino games include Slots, Jackpot Games, Live Casino, and Card Games. All of them can be accessed via desktop or mobile with no requirement for downloads. The casino is available in 4 languages and accepts players from all countries where online gambling is allowed.
What crypto currencies do they accept?
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin
What games do they offer?
At Joo Casino, you can easily find the most popular Online Casino Games like video slots, table games and card games using the search or filter function. All the games are available to play instantly. Some of the casinos most popular slots include Book of Fortune slot, Eye of Ra slot, Book of Aztec and many more. Here you can find also great number of BTC games and competing for spectacular prizes in Online Casino Tournaments. They are a great way for you to play against other players, and not just the casino software. Certain games may be unavailable in certain jurisdictions, as required by policies of game providers which may change from time to time.
What Are the Disadvantages of Crypto Casinos?
There are many people, including online casino players, who do not use cryptocurrencies for various reasons. Cryptocurrencies are a game changer for the banking industry. However, being such they have not gained the support of everyone just yet. As previously mentioned, crypto online gambling offers a high degree of anonymity. However, as a new technology, not all game providers and certainly not all casinos can offer their games to those paying with cryptocurrencies.
The lack of knowledge about cryptocurrencies is one of the biggest disadvantages of using it as a payment method. It could be much easier to pay and withdraw via the traditional payment methods vs. educating a player on cryptocurrencies.
In financial terms, the cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin’s price, can be extremely volatile. That in turn, can be a big disadvantage for those playing in the long-term. While there might be speculators interested in the short-term price volatility, most often that would not be that case.
NOTE TO SELF! Regardless if you are playing on a crypto casino or a regular online casino, make sure the casino you selected is licensed.
The online world has been moving at an increasingly rapid pace, and all of the innovations are turning into industry disruptors and end up changing entire business segments. If we were to take an educated gamble, cryptocurrencies and crypto casinos have much to offer and a huge potential. The synergies between the two will lead the gambling industry to a more advanced path that will ultimately encompass Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and will create an environment of high end online casino games. The variety and fairness in online gaming will reach new levels. From the perspective of the casino, it would be tough to compete for players in this environment. But from the perspective of the player, it would be more unique and enjoyable to play than ever!
“It means „buckle your seat belt, Dorothy, ‚cause Kansas is going bye-bye.“
Sources used:
https://bitcoinchaser.com/casino/crypto-casino
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102214/how-bitcoin-casinos-work.asp
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