Undoubtedly, crypto casinos have brought about a significant transformation in the landscape of online gaming, offering undeniable benefits such as enhanced privacy, rapid transactions, and robust security measures. Nevertheless, I’d like to present a counterargument by suggesting that crypto casinos are a dual-edged tool, presenting both favorable and unfavorable aspects.
While it is crucial to acknowledge the merits associated with crypto casinos, we must not turn a blind eye to the inherent challenges they pose. I am not advocating for a complete abandonment of your preferred crypto casino activities; rather, I propose a reevaluation of these platforms from a different perspective.
Traditionally, online casinos and mobile gaming applications dominated the realm of wagering on games like slots, roulette, and blackjack. The advent of cryptocurrency introduced a novel and thrilling alternative—crypto casinos. The rapid transition from lengthy transaction periods to mere minutes was indeed remarkable, offering players the allure of provably fair games with assured fairness and heightened security.
However, it’s worth questioning whether the swift embrace of crypto casinos may have been premature, potentially explaining the enduring popularity of traditional online casinos.
Double Gambling
Slots, baccarat, poker, blackjack, and roulette are all games of chance and that’s why you’ll hear the popular phrase “The house always wins.” When playing casino games, you need to expect anything and that’s why it is encouraged as a leisure activity.
Once you shift from using fiat currency (USD, EUR, or GBP) and start playing with crypto, you expose yourself to another risk, which is volatility. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and in the same way the price of a single BTC rose from $28,949 in December 2020 to $64,000 in mid-April 2021, it is the same way it dipped from an all-time high of $69,000 to below $16,000 in November 2022.
At any given time, playing with crypto will always be a gamble because your currency can easily gain or lose value. Not only will you lose to the casino, but you’ll also lose the value of your currency because of a highly volatile market. In the end, you might incur a dent of thousands of dollars in your account.
Challenges in Regulation
Online gambling has come a long way, and now the conversation centers on regulation and responsible gaming. Measures have been put in place by regulatory authorities such as the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, and Curacao Gaming Commission to make sure safety is the number one priority for online casinos.
However, regulation is a big challenge in crypto casinos because their ethos of operation is anonymity. The volatility aspect doesn’t also help its case. In the UK, members of parliament are pushing for crypto trading to be considered a form of gambling and not investing. Consequently, this will affect crypto casinos which might be considered more risky.
In fact, the UK Gambling Commission, which is regarded as the highest authority in matters of online gambling regulation, considers crypto casinos illegal. It has a hardline stand against operators that allow direct crypto payments.
High Limits Equals High Loses
Since traditional online casinos are heavily regulated, they’ll have a slightly low cap on how much one can deposit, wager, and withdraw. In the long run, this helps a player manage their budget and won’t blow their bank account while chasing a losing streak.
Crypto casinos, on the other hand, appease players by offering them high deposit and withdrawal limits. By doing so, players are more susceptible to losing huge sums of money. If a player has a gambling issue, all their money could easily go down the drain with crypto casinos. The ease of depositing and withdrawing without any checks from crypto wallets can also contribute to the same.
Possibility of Fraud
Crypto casinos’ biggest asset ‘anonymity’ is also its Achilles heel. Online gambling has its fair share of risks such as money laundering and data theft. When playing at a regular online casino that isn’t licensed, one can easily get their data and money stolen because of the info you’ll have entered when signing up.
However, crypto casinos are anonymous and the possibility of someone stealing your data is close to zero. Some crypto sites don’t even require you to sign up with any personal details—with a username, password, and a crypto wallet, you are good to go. The downside to this is that money laundering is encouraged with no way to trace where the money went. Crypto wallets are private and encrypted so no one can trace who they belong to and where the money was transferred.
Final Verdict
For those whose crypto bubble burst while reading this article, don’t take it the wrong way, rather see it as a wake-up call to be more cautious. Most of the challenges highlighted have a solution, but they’ll take some time before they are sorted out. So, should we do away with crypto casinos? Not at all, but we must acknowledge that there are risks that need more attention.
