What are Crypto Casinos
Casinos, where cryptocurrencies are the primary or only source of payment, are often called Crypto Casinos. Similarly, crypto gaming is a term used for casino games that let you place wagers using popular cryptocurrencies. Crypto Casinos provide hundreds of games, sports and esports betting options and are increasingly getting popular.
A majority of online casinos have also started accepting various cryptocurrencies as payments and many B2B gaming providers have been heavily investing in crypto gaming and data analytics for crypto casinos, to meet the rising demand.
In the past couple of years, cryptocurrencies played a huge role in the massive penetration of online casinos across Europe and North America. Several media and research groups are anticipating an explosive growth of crypto games and crypto casinos in the near future. ResearchandMarkets predicts that the global casino and sports betting market is to reach $911.9 Billion by 2027. And hence, cryptocurrencies are going to be a major payment gateway for casinos, as a significant share of their players prefers wagering using crypto instead of fiat currency. But why?
Why are Crypto Casinos gaining popularity?
There are many reasons for the increased attention behind the crypto-based gaming scenario. The top few include-
It resonates with the young millennials and GenZ
Both the groups are the main target audience for crypto games and have the highest purchasing power. They are accountable for the most revenue in many casinos.
As we know, both generations prefer and prioritize convenience over anything. Crypto casinos offer them exactly what they seek- convenience, privacy, fast service and a unique wagering experience.
Unlike traditional casinos, crypto casinos do not have verification and authentication paperwork that consumes a lot of time. Plus, crypto payments ensure anonymity and high security, faster withdrawals and a number of options to bet on.
Legal in countless countries
It is not illegal to bet with crypto in several countries. Hence, there are a lot of regulations that are not applicable to online casinos but not crypto casinos, which is an important factor behind their growing popularity. As the gambling industry grows by 2 digit percentage year on year, casinos want to make the most out of every promising niche in the sector including NFTs and esports betting.
NFTs and Tokenization
Even though controversial, NFTs have caught the interest of new-age investors who get digital ownership of the assets they purchase. Investors believe that such assets have the potential for bringing profits. From a gaming perspective, NFTs are more of a one-of-a-kind experience created for the users. Gaming enthusiasts are seeing the perks offered by NFT games including passive income through gaming. Sounds like a win-win situation.
Are cryptocurrencies a safe investment idea for Casinos?
There is no definite answer.
We do see crypto as a sustainable revenue model but at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that at present, cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and a slump in crypto prices could affect casino revenue adversely. Hence, a lot of time and effort should be invested into research and development, hedging and risk management.
A casino can profit a great deal out of cryptocurrencies. Hundreds of casinos accepting cryptocurrency and aggressively venturing into this space are proof of that. The top few online crypto casino operators are known to be worth millions.
But without deep research on the customer base and the industry, such an endeavour would be quite risky. Crypto casinos need a solid operation strategy, an analytics platform and a fail-safe mechanism in place. Moreover, there should be a powerful data management and analytics pipeline for operational usage.
Are you a crypto casino operator or an operator planning to venture into this space? If you would like to strengthen your data and BI strategy, BizAcuity can help you with the same. With over 90 years of combined experience in the field of gaming and analytics, we have partnered with over 25 casinos in the last decade, implementing and executing multiple AI-driven analytics projects.
5 data challenges faced by crypto casinos
There are a number of unique challenges that casinos need to consider in the data and technology side of things because
Major cryptocurrency values demand precision of up to 12 decimal points.
Bitcoin is priced at over $40,000 per coin and Etherium at around $3,000. But several other major cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin are priced in decimal points.
Jointly with the current market volatility, not having a precision up to 12 decimal points can mean huge losses for online casinos.
It also means heavy investments in data storage, management, security and speed at which data should be processed.
A lot of investments go into data warehousing, big data management and data storage to ensure revenue is not lost due to any glitches or misconfiguration.
BizAcuity has helped one of the prominent crypto casinos in the industry with a similar challenge. Their data platform was not scalable while they accumulated huge amounts of data on a daily basis. As a result, the queries took hours or days to process, which delayed the decision-making process. If you are facing a similar issue, we can resolve it for you. Contact Us.
Forecasting exchange rates, cryptocurrencies and market volatility:
The price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency exchanges can be compared with the price fluctuations of the fiat currencies. Crypto casinos need a scalable application that could integrate major cryptocurrency exchanges located in different parts of the world. Course-correct in case of any unexpected circumstance and initiate a fail-safe mechanism during sharp price fluctuations so as to avoid severe damages.
To predict movements and volatility, machine learning and deep learning algorithms are widely used by organizations to strategize and prepare accordingly. Not using AI for predicting crypto price movements can be an extremely risky measure in the current financial climate.
Data warehousing, data integration and BI systems:
The KPIs and data architecture that crypto casinos need to track alter slightly from what regular online casinos keep track of. To stay ahead of the competition, maximize revenue and optimize profit margins, the data analytics for crypto casinos need to be customized accordingly for effective decision making.
Data security and encryption at different points when accepting different types of cryptocurrencies:
Despite being known for their transparency, crypto exchanges and wallets are often targeted by hackers. As much as $4 billion worth of cryptocurrencies has been stolen till now. Hence, it is very important to have a highly secure data facility when accepting and dealing with cryptocurrencies.
Fast payouts in crypto:
Players expect and demand faster payouts from casinos and cryptocurrency payouts tend to be faster than traditional methods. Some traditional casinos usually take only up to 15 minutes whereas crypto casinos can roll out the payment within 10. The faster, the more preferable the brand becomes to users. Hence, it is absolutely essential for crypto casinos to be just as fast when it comes to payouts. Fast payouts allow users to place more wagers and this, in turn, brings operators additional revenue as well as brand loyalty at the same time.
BizAcuity helps online casinos track business KPIs and 500+ variables for marketing and operations. We enable real-time alerts, self-service analytics, and, help prevent issues such as data overload, bonus abuse and affiliate fraud.
The Future of crypto gaming and Crypto Casinos
Recently, an entity proposed a ‘futuristic’ casino in New York estimated to be worth 3 billion dollars with a floor dedicated entirely to crypto exchange. Another significant stride is the increasing popularity of Defi gaming and Slotie, where NFTs are being wagered.
Blockchain and crypto transactions promise a few disruptive use cases which include near-real-time sports betting performance campaigns and real player tokenization. This space needs to be watched closely as this alone can bring a lot of demand to crypto, increase the interest of betters and impact the revenue growth of the 100 billion dollar sports betting industry.
About BizAcuity
BizAcuity is a data analytics and BI consultancy firm, working to implement and improve the end-to-end BI solution of our clients from across the world. We have partnered with over 25 casinos in the past 10 years. If you are interested in receiving more information about us and our work in the gaming space, get in touch with us.
