Cryptocurrencies are not actually currencies. Rather, it is a digital means of payment without central authorities such as banks. Almost 10,000 different crypto currencies are currently in use, with the total market capitalization being around 2.4 trillion US dollars. The most important crypto currency is still the Bitcoin. Little by little, the cryptocurrencies are also conquering the online gambling market. But there are still a number of hurdles that have to be overcome in order to be able to guarantee smooth and legal crypto gambling.
SoftSwiss: Crypto gambling is becoming more and more important
Just a few days ago, the casino software provider SoftSwiss published its company report for the first quarter of 2021. This report shows that now more than a quarter of the company’s revenue (26%) can be attributed to transactions with cryptocurrencies. A year ago, the “crypto share” at SoftSwiss was only 6%. In the coming months and years, the share of digital currencies in the gaming market could increase further.
SoftSwiss was founded in 2008 as a provider of auction software. Over the years SoftSwiss gradually developed into a casino software provider. According to its own information, it is the “industry leader in the development of iGaming software solutions”. SoftSwiss currently employs more than 600 people and is headquartered on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Most recently, SoftSwiss came under public criticism and there were various allegations of fraud.
So far, however, only a comparatively few gambling companies have had the opportunity to benefit from the “crypto boom”. Most of the licensing authorities in Europe are currently still banning crypto currencies as a means of payment in online casinos and online gaming libraries. Accordingly, players from Germany cannot legally use cryptocurrencies in online gambling at the moment. In the autumn of last year, we asked ourselves in an article whether cryptocurrencies will be the digital means of payment of the future.
Most Famous Softswiss Casinos with Cryptocurrencies
Most Popular Cryptocurrency Casinos Types:
Asian “crypto market” is developing particularly well
Asia is currently seeing the highest growth in sales in crypto gambling. The CEO of SoftSiwss, Andrey Starovoitov, pointed out that the Asian crypto market is significantly more developed than in Europe. Accordingly, high growth rates can currently be observed in Asia, especially in Japan. Starovoitov attributes the high growth in sales of his company in crypto gambling largely to the positive development in Japan. But other software providers also point out that the Asian gaming market is significantly further developed in terms of the acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin remains the most important cryptocurrency
Bitcoin remains the most important digital currency internationally. Most recently, Tesla boss Elon Musk caused falling Bitcoin prices with his statements on the social network Twitter. While around 53,217 euros had to be put on the table for a Bitcoin on April 13, 2021, it was only around 35,780 euros on May 17, 2021. As can also be seen from the SoftSwiss company report, the lion’s share (83%) of crypto sales were generated with Bitcoin. The second most important digital currency for SoftSwiss was Ethereum (10%) in the first quarter of 2021.
Bitcoin key data:
- First and world’s strongest cryptocurrency
- Release year: 2009
- Founder: Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym)
- BTC / EUR rate (February 2016): 1 BTC = 332 euros
- BTC / EUR rate (May 2021): 1 BTC = 35,780 euros
Conclusion
There is no question that crypto gambling will become increasingly important. However, it will be some time before players from Germany can safely deposit and withdraw from the online game library using crypto currencies. So far there are no licensed gaming providers known to us that offer digital currencies as a payment method. For the time being, it is also unlikely that the responsible licensing authorities in Malta or Germany will agree to the unrestricted use of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, growth this year will probably be limited to the Asian market, where crypto currencies are already much more widespread and accepted.
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