Research companies that specialize in online gaming predict that Bitcoin, currently a tiny percentage of online gaming, is poised to grab a much larger market share.
Bitcoin is referred to in some circles as “crypto currency.”
Online gaming is growing at an annual rate of about 9.13 percent, according to H2 Gambling Capital. Currently Bitcoin accounts for a small share of that, but that could change because of the online systems ability to process payments quickly and cheaply. It is also good for processing small transactions.
Right now it is possible that half of the transaction made using bitcoin are gambling-related.
Ivan Montik, chief executive officer of SoftSwiss, which provides online casino software, told CoinDesk, “We’ve got about 400 requests for the launch of a bitcoin casino in the last six months. We constantly have three to five casinos in the set-up phase, and could have had more if we had more resources.” He estimated that $10 million per month in bitcoins are wagered on the company’s platform.
U.S. gambling law, (i.e. the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006) which bans online gaming, is the chief obstacle to a robust growth of this section of the bitcoin market. The U.S. Justice Department raided three of the largest online poker sites in what came to be known as “Black Friday.”
The use of bitcoin provides a way to allow Americans to play online without running afoul of U.S. banking transfer laws, because bitcoins don’t require such transfers. Apparently the law hasn’t caught up with bitcoins just yet.
For this scenario to truly take off will require that consumers educate themselves more about bitcoin, which remains a dark mystery to many.
