Unless you’ve spent the past five or so years living in a cave, you will have noticed that online casino gaming has morphed from fringe internet activity squarely into the mainstream over the past five years or so.
Of course, just because something is popular doesn’t mean it is without its shortcomings. Ethical concerns exist, of course, but these are not specific to online gaming – they apply equally to land-based casinos and bookmakers. As far as the internet is concerned, two of the biggest concerns are transparency and security.
This is made all the more difficult in as much as promoting one can sometimes be detrimental to the other. However, anyone who has spent any time in the crypto space will know that these very concepts are absolutely core to blockchain technology. Let’s see what blockchain can bring to the gaming table.
Transparency
Back in the early days of the internet, things were a little like the wild west, particularly where money gaming was concerned. Today, the casino industry is populated by major recognized operators. If you click here, you’ll see a case in point. Licensing and security information is there for all to see and everything is audited and controlled even more closely than in a land-based casino.
Yet people have long memories and can still have that mental distrust of an online operator. Blockchain technology can only serve to increase trust, as smart contracts are stored on a shared ledger that is impossible to manipulate.
Fraud prevention
In reality, it is not the casino operator that people should be worrying about. The real problem is that any activity that involves financial transactions will attract fraudsters and scammers like an open garbage can attracts flies.
Blockchain is the most secure infrastructure for guarding against hackers and ensuring the casino is safe from fraud and back door attacks.
Bitcoin payment
The weakest link in the chain involves the financial transfers between the casino and the player’s account, and this is where criminals will look to strike. Using a crypto wallet instead of a card or bank transfer means far better security. In most cases, it also results in faster transactions and reduced or eliminated fees, so it is a winner all round.
There are other reasons that people choose to use Bitcoin as a payment mechanism that is unrelated to data security, however. The complete anonymity associated with digital payments is attractive to those who prefer to keep their leisure activities to themselves. Furthermore, the decentralized nature of Bitcoin means it is not subject to the same restrictions as banks in certain jurisdictions.
Tokenization
This is, perhaps, the most fundamental change of all. At present, gamers are typically using real-world currency in cyberspace. It’s something of a square peg in a round hole, and leads to transfer difficulties, exchange rate issues, delays and more.
Over time, crypto ecosystems like Tron will become the norm, where blockchain-based coins can exist in cyberspace and stay there, being used across different games and even platforms. The technology already exists, and major players are getting on board, so it is very much a case of “watch this space.”
