Blockchain is a revolutionary financial system best known for its association with Bitcoin. It’s a decentralized ledger of records. Every record is time stamped and stored in a way it can’t be altered.
Besides storing records securely, blockchain allows people to transact fast without the need for an intermediary. Then there’s the low costs although gas fees on Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains can be steep sometimes.
What’s the connection between blockchain technology and online gambling? What benefits does it offer?
Peer to Peer Transactions
Blockchain technology provides a platform to send and receive money from any part of the world without the services of a middle man. You see, most payment options involve an intermediary.
If you deposit money through wire transfer, your bank is the intermediary. If you use PayPal, the digital wallet is your middle man. Pretty much any means of payment besides cash and crypto involve a middle person.
Blockchain eliminates this intermediary. And the advantages are countless. Let’s start with autonomy. It means you own your money in crypto and can access and use it whenever you want.
Then there’s speed. Eliminating an intermediary means one less hurdle between you and your recipient. In crypto, the speeds can be as fast as microseconds, beating most alternatives, including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal.
Ironclad Security
When you think about it, blockchain is incredibly secure. No one can hack it, not even the most ardent government agencies. It provides security by virtue of decentralization: Computer nodes from different parts of the world verify and approve records by solving complex math problems.
To beat the blockchain, you would need to hack 51% of the nodes that secure it. This would either take thousands of years due to the complex math problems. Or it would take too much resources to make it financially beneficial to hack the network.
According to BitcoinOnlineCasino.io, your cryptocurrencies are secure from most forms of online threats. However, you need a good digital wallet to protect the privacy keys that prove you own crypto.
If you store your coins at an unsafe wallet, it could get hacked and you could lose your crypto. This explains why it’s not advisable to store crypto at hot wallets like mobile apps and crypto exchanges. Instead, cold wallets provide safer alternatives.
Provably Fair Games
Everyone wants to play fair casino games. But there are few ways of verifying a slot machine is fair. In many cases, it’s all about trust. You trust a casino is genuine enough to offer fair games. Or you trust gambling regulators to audit games.
With blockchain, trust is a non-factor. You can play slots whose algorithm for producing winners and losers is in the public domain. This means you can check records to see a game you played and how the RNG software run before helping you win or lose.
Blockchain-based casino games are still a new thing. But you can find 20+ slots and table games at leading Bitcoin casinos. In case you’re wondering, there’s still a lot that needs to happen to improve blockchain casino games.
For example, the payouts have to improve, the graphics and storylines. Once that’s done, more people might ditch traditional casino games for their blockchain-based counterparts.
Increased Privacy
It’s easy to see why some governments dislike blockchain. It provides the kind of privacy that reduces government involvement. In the gambling space, blockchain provides room to play slots without providing your personal information.
All you need is to send money to a casino’s chosen wallet. While in the process, you receive a special link to act as your ID. You can use this ID to check your balance, access games and cashout your profits.
Now, there are a few problems with anonymous casino sites. Not all of them feature decentralized contracts: the innovation that lets you gamble securely without losing your money to a scam operator.
Another problem is that many privacy-oriented casinos are small and provide a small variety of games. They’re small because they can’t advertise in regions with gambling regulations. What’s more, many people prefer to bet at licensed and regulated gaming websites.
Transparency
One of blockchain’s biggest advantages is that it’s centered on transparency. Everything that takes place in the blockchain is verifiable. What’s more, anyone can participate in the verification process.
Additionally, developers can involve their customers in making decisions. As such, it’s not just the company’s duty to decide games to add, bonuses to provide and payout speeds. A casino can create a poll.
Or it could provide a system where customers vote on important decisions. This helps foster transparency, trust and reputation. You’re more likely to gamble at a casino with great transparency than one without.
Tokenization
When most people think about Bitcoin, they imagine of how to make money from it. Now, imagine making money from your favorite casino site. Not by winning at slots and blackjack but by earning a token owned by the casino.
This idea runs through the blockchain. Companies build their casinos through the technology. In turn, they can create tokens to rewards customers for completing different tasks. For example, you can earn a coin for logging into your account or by winning a competition.
The beauty of crypto tokens is that they can be limited in number. And since some get lost along the way, their value appreciates over time. This is precisely the reason Bitcoin has skyrocketed from less than a dollar to $50,000 at the time of writing.
Enhancing VR Experiences
Facebook recently changed its parent company’s name to Metaverse. Since then, Metaverse related projects have been mushrooming left, right and center. Metaverse is an alternative world powered by virtual reality, augmented reality and live video software.
It allows you to work, play and connect without friends as though you were together in-person. Against that backdrop, blockchain-based metaverse projects can help casino players experience online gambling in a unique way.
They could play slots and blackjack like they were in a real casino. And that’s not all. Add tokenization, security and low fees and iGaming could change for good.