There has been huge growth in a certain sector of the iGaming industry lately, and that is in regards to crypto casinos and crypto betting. For those of you that don’t know, crypto refers to cryptocurrency, which essentially is a form of digital currency being used to deposit and play online at casinos and at sportsbooks.
All of the games still function in the same way as do the betting odds and house edges, but the reason they’re more popular is that they are a lot more secure. It allows players to sign up and start playing without having to provide the usual plethora of personal and financial information. There are online casinos, such as LuckyKoala.com, that offer crypto betting and casino games to the general public.
An introduction to blockchain
When playing online at a crypto casino, every single transaction that happens on that website is recorded on a public ledger. This doesn’t identify who has done what transaction, but it records absolutely everything. And this is not done by the casino; it is supported by the blockchain platform that underpins crypto casinos. This, in turn, means that it eliminates any concern about data manipulation and holds the casinos accountable. And so, with all of these advantages being offered by crypto casinos, it’s no surprise that this area of the iGaming industry is seeing huge growth.
What the Maltese license won’t suffice
And as always, wherever there is growth and demand, casinos will look to capitalise on this, and that is why we are seeing more and more crypto casinos pop up. But there are different hoops to jump through before they can establish themselves as a legitimate crypto casino or bookmaker. And a big part of that is licensing. And a big part of the legality to understand straight away is that a Maltese Gaming License from the MGA will not suffice as it does not support crypto payments, just standard fiat payments. But this doesn’t mean there isn’t a license out there that supports crypto.
What is the alternative?
There is indeed one, and it is called the Curaçao license. It is named after a small island country that is just north of the Netherlands and is a legitimate license that allows online casinos and sportsbooks to accept crypto. By obtaining this license, they can reinforce to any players signing up to their crypto casino that they are legitimate and operating within the confines of the law.
It’s absolutely crucial, therefore, that all casinos that are looking to accept digital payments, such as crypto, have this in place. It’s also beneficial because it’s very quick to apply for and obtain this license. It’s also appealing as there are fewer barriers to entry for a lot of casinos from a legal perspective when it comes to obtaining this license. And so if the casino infrastructure is there, it can speed up the start-up process.
In Summary
From a business perspective as well, there are still strict regulations that these casinos need to abide by, but not as many as the MGA requires. This in no way means that they can act dishonestly, but what it does mean is that there are lower overall compliance costs for these casinos. This saves both time and money, which is absolutely huge for a business that is just starting out in a very competitive and crowded industry. And it’s also important so that they can establish themselves as a legitimate crypto casino and start attracting players right away so that they can capitalise on what is going to become an extremely lucrative market.
