Bitcoin investors across the world celebrated when the coin reached a new record at around €73,000 during the month of March earlier this year. A historical peak like that will have an implication in many areas but how does it affect the iGaming market?
The industry leading tech company, SOFTSWISS, recently provided an insight and anticipated growth by sharing its latest quarterly crypto analysis.
An Increase in Crypto Transactions
Year 2024 is off to a great start and SOFTSWISS could see a significant increase in the amount of crypto transactions during the first quarter. As many as 220+ of their casino brands engaged in crypto transactions during this time which was an impressive increase of 12% compared to the 4th quarter of 2023.
Stable growth patterns and positive reports such as this one, helps support previous projections by Statista. For example, the size of the global online gambling and sports betting industry is expected to exceed 170 billion euros by 2032.
Total Bet Sum
Both Fiat and Crypto Are Showing Growth
When it comes to Total Bet Sum (+6.1%) and Total Bet Count (+6.1%) including Fiat and Crypto, both areas continues to show increasing numbers. To make it even more significant, this indicates a year-on-year boost of as much as 57.2%.
The reason behind the growing popularity of iGaming has of course to do with the increased global reach and overall accessibility. This isn’t only due to improved wifi connectivity obviously but also because of the casinos ability to offer a better product, including payment procedures.
What is the State of Crypto in IGaming?
While the Q1’2024 Crypto Bet Sum shows a moderate 2.4% growth compared to the previous quarter, the year-on-year analysis demonstrates a 20.8% increase. The Crypto Bet Count remained unchanged in Q1’24 compared to the previous quarter’s indicator. Simultaneously, the metric increased by 21.3% year-on-year.
These numbers speak volumes, once again showcasing a consistent interest among players in crypto gaming.
Bigger Bets – Bigger Wins
The average crypto bet went up from €1.66 in the last quarter of 2023 to €1.71 in the first quarter of this year. This makes a lot of sense considering the growth goes hand in hand with the significant strengthening of the price of Bitcoin.
What About Fiat?
During the same period, the average Fiat bet remained steady at around €0.81.
Average crypto casino bets
Crypto Bets Are Double the Size of Fiat
Looking at the above image, you can see that the average crypto bet is twice as high as the average Fiat bet. One likely reason is that there are more higher-income players that prefer to use crypto currencies.
What Crypto Are the Most Popular?
It’s not hard to guess the Top 5 most popular digital coins used in iGaming. The truth is, this list has remained the same over the last two years with minor tweaks in terms of ranking order.
The most used crypto are of course: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Tether (USDT).
Top online casino crypto
Bitcoin Losing Market Share
During Q1 2024, Bitcoin actually showed a significant decline of as much as 9.4% compared to Q4 2023. It’s hard to say exactly why that is but SOFTSWISS speculates it could be attributed to the higher Bitcoin exchange rate and that players are using a more cautious approach because of it.
On the other hand, while bitcoin drops slightly, the shares of other crypto currencies have increased instead. Ethereum (4%) and Litecoin (3.8%) for example, both showed growth during the same period. Simultaneously, Dogecoin rose to fourth place in the ranking, leaving Tether behind.
Vitali Matsukevich, COO
CEO Speaks Up
Vitali Matsukevich is the Chief Operating Officer at SOFTSWISS and had the following to say about this latest information:
“The benefits of employing digital currencies, such as fast transactions and anonymity, still attract many players. Embracing cryptocurrencies in iGaming can boost operator profits despite their volatile nature.
As the Bitcoin rate is expected to strengthen after the Bitcoin Halving, the average crypto bet and projected gains may see a notable impact. During such promising times, it is crucial to have reliable and experienced partners to navigate the path to success”.
One Last Thing
It’s not always easy to understand and keep up with the number as a regular casino player, but I think we can all agree on the fact that the crypto casino future is looking bright.
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