Betting Big on Blockchain and Digital Currencies: How Technology Can Improve the Way Casinos Do Business
8 min readMany of the sessions at the recent Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas emphasized the growing industry importance of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Over the past decade, the use of digital currencies in gaming has steadily increased since their initial adoption.
With crypto users now betting an average of $3 million daily, it is vital for gaming and casino operators to stay updated on blockchain technology and digital finance. Understanding and integrating these technologies can transform the industry — enhancing risk management, increasing transparency, and improving security, delivering a better gaming experience for both players and operators.
How blockchain technology is changing the game
Blockchain technology is best known for supporting cryptocurrencies, most notably Bitcoin. For digital currencies, blockchain technology serves as a distributed ledger. It records transactions in a secure, transparent, and tamper-proof manner by storing data in “blocks” that cannot be altered. The blocks are then linked using cryptography, allowing users to trace the data’s source and movement.
Blockchain has found uses in a wide variety of industries — from supply chains and tracking commodities to housing healthcare data and real estate transactions. However, it’s the finance realm that has found some of the greatest blockchain success. Specifically for Bitcoin, blockchain has enabled decentralized currency control. All Bitcoin transactions are recorded permanently and are viewable to all.
Blockchain’s decentralized nature and usability as a ledger means it can also address several critical challenges facing the gaming and casino industry.
Transparency and Fairness
Blockchain's easy viewability and data immutability make it ideal for building transparent and provably fair gambling platforms. Smart contracts housed on the blockchain ensure that game outcomes are verifiable. They provide tangible proof that the outcome hasn’t been manipulated by either the casino or the players. This level of transparency instills trust in the gaming experience, reassuring players that they are participating in a fair and honest environment.
Payment Solutions
Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies offer fast and low-cost payment solutions. For online casinos, this allows for easier worldwide transactions while reducing transaction fees as part of their overhead. Players can also deposit and withdraw funds with ease, as blockchain makes transactions more efficient. This is a vast improvement over traditional banking methods, which often see payment processing delays.
Decentralization
Blockchain technology also delivers faster development of decentralized gaming platforms, reducing operational costs and removing the need for intermediaries. With decentralized platforms, players can engage directly with the game and payouts can be automated using smart contracts. Player experience is improved with a more seamless gaming process, and automated services help keep costs low for the gaming company.
Reduced Fraud
One of the biggest benefits of blockchain is how its immutability prevents fraudulent activities. This increases online gaming’s security and transparency and avoids end-user issues such as double-spending or altering betting outcomes. By significantly reducing the risk of fraudulent activities, players can enjoy peace of mind, knowing that their bets and winnings are secure and tamper-proof.
Compliance and Regulation
Blockchain technology improves regulatory compliance for gambling platforms by providing transparent and auditable transaction records. The ability to trace every transaction on the blockchain ensures that casino operators can demonstrate their commitment to all related legal and regulatory standards.
Digital finance delivers convenience, speed, and safety
While it’s clear that blockchain technology has numerous use cases in the gaming and casino industry, it equally thrives within the digital finance realm. Using digital technologies to facilitate financial transactions requires tools like blockchain to ensure security. It also provides the foundation for faster and more seamless financial transactions, benefiting both casino operators and players.
1. Greater Convenience
Digital finance allows players to deposit and withdraw funds much more easily than traditional banking methods. Players can use various online payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, and mobile payments.
By eliminating the hassle of physical cash transactions, digital finance delivers greater convenience and players are provided a better overall experience.
2. Faster Transactions
Anyone who has tried to transfer money between their bank accounts knows that traditional banking methods can involve payment processing delays.
Digital finance offers near-instantaneous transactions and this speed improves player satisfaction.
3. Safer Transactions
In the ever-more digitized world of the gaming industry, ensuring secure financial transactions is paramount. At its most basic level, the use of digital payments reduces the risks associated with handling physical cash.
The use of secure digital payment methods also helps protect both players and operators from fraud. Players can trust that their financial information is secure and gaming companies can know that the funds are protected when using digital finance options.
Digital wallets combine blockchain and digital finance to ensure security, privacy, and responsible gaming
By combining the use of blockchain technology with the benefits of digital finance, casino operators and gaming companies can implement tools like digital wallets. These allow players easier access to funds, smoother transactions, privacy, and responsible gaming services.
1. Improved Security
With the use of advanced encryption and authentication methods to secure a user’s payment information, digital wallets greatly increase the security around a player’s financial data.
Digital wallets lower the risk of data breaches and prevent bad actors from unauthorized data access. This high level of security is crucial in this industry as casinos and gaming companies regularly deal with sensitive financial information.
2. Privacy
In a world that’s grown increasingly more privacy-focused, digital wallets provide users with greater privacy around their financial information. With digital wallets, users can make transactions without revealing their sensitive financial details to the gaming platform. This reduces the risk of identity theft while ensuring privacy.
Players can focus on enjoying their gaming experience without worrying their personal information may be exposed.
3. Responsible Gaming
Perhaps equally important is the fact that digital wallets provide built-in responsible gaming tools. Users can set limits on their gambling expenses, which prevents them from going over their gaming budget.
This feature promotes responsible gaming practices by encouraging players to avoid excessive spending, ultimately fostering a healthier gaming environment.
How to make digital financial solutions feasible
Figuring out how to facilitate blockchain technology adoption and incorporate digital finance solutions for your business can seem daunting. Yet, the landscape is already moving in this direction. Even the U.S. government — a bureaucratic behemoth not exactly known for its speed in adopting new technology — is making strides toward a digital currency.
The digital dollar or CBDC (short for central bank digital currency) would have a major impact across all industries, similar to how blockchain and cryptocurrencies have already shaken things up. For the gaming and casino industry, the detailed regulatory requirements add a layer of complexity to the adoption and implementation of any digital or cryptocurrency.
Yet, the full breadth of benefits from digital currencies — more comprehensive understanding of your customer, more seamless compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, and more effective and efficient internal processes — will far outweigh any initial adoption challenges.
If the recent G2E conference showed us anything, it’s that digital solutions are rapidly transforming this industry. Whether powered by Generative AI or built using blockchain, these innovations are enhancing transparency, security, and convenience for both operators and players.
Companies like SoftServe ease the burden by partnering with you to provide the necessary infrastructure to take your digital wallet journey to the next level. We combine our decades of technology expertise with our specialized blockchain services and incorporate the scalable systems and capabilities of our partners at AWS, GCP, Microsoft, and NVIDIA.
SoftServe helps you reduce time-to-market as we collaboratively develop a cost-effective digital financial solution that’s tailored to your unique needs. You’ll gain not only a custom solution, but the peace of mind that player and user data is confidential and secure.
As this industry continues to evolve, there will be greater advancements that redefine how we experience and enjoy casinos and gaming. Thanks to the integration of blockchain technology, digital finance, and digital wallets, a more secure, transparent, and accessible future is already becoming a reality.