Glen Bullen, CCO at DAOGroup, has provided deep insight into the role of crypto technology in the gambling market as well as his opinion on the latest cryptocurrency news.
How does the development of crypto technologies affect the gambling industry?
As crypto technology continues to be integrated into the mainstream of the gambling industry, I’m confident that the benefits it brings will be a gamechanger for operators’ acquisition and retention of players – and significantly change the industry for the better with a raft of new technology.
We’re looking at a wealth of benefits for the player, such as the enhanced speed of transactions, as well as wins that can be processed instantly. For operators, the lack of charge backs on crypto transactions will reduce a significant amount of the risk and cost associated with the gaming process – and free up plenty of resources. That’s before we even get started on the expansion into new markets by operators, where offering crypto payments as part of the package will also appeal to a very strong demographic of tech-savvy players who are both affluent and enjoy gaming as an entertaining pastime.
What are the advantages of crypto payments for online casinos (except for obvious ones, such as anonymity, absence of fees, etc.)?
This is an area where we can really make a difference. Our DAOWallet (which processes transactions and provides a fiat/crypto gateway for operators) is by far one of the best available to the industry, and it’s proving itself as an invaluable asset to operators.
Put simply, compliance headaches associated with crypto transactions are completely removed with our product – which leaves operators to reap the rewards. The security side of our wallet is second to none, and we’re able to instantly identify the provenance of crypto coins coming in; along with providing operators with the ability to identify VIP and problematic players before they even start playing. This ties into the security of deposits for operators and negates all risk of charge backs and the like to ensure that they’re able to offer a more cost-efficient operation than ever before.
We also shouldn’t forget about the marketing advantages and the boost it gives to your brand image. Offering crypto-based payments alongside traditional fiat highlights your forward-thinking credentials as an operator and will likely resonate strongly with millennial audiences. This is especially the case if you’re moving into a new market where crypto already has a foothold (such as the CIS, LatAm or Asian markets), and your preparedness to show you’re here to support those players will do wonders for your retention rate. At the end of the day, if you have a product that is strong, and caters to a broad spectrum of audiences – then you’re going to be way ahead of the game compared to your slow-to-adapt competitors.
It has been recently revealed that the market of gambling-based cryptocurrencies is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. Will it continue to attract investors?
Cryptocurrencies’ finite nature will ensure they will nearly always steadily rise in value in comparison to fiat-based currency given the fundamental laws of monetary inflation. Inevitably this will attract speculative investors looking to ‘buy low and sell high’ if they can get in on the ground floor.
However, as a company that processes the full spectrum of cryptocurrencies available on behalf of our operator partners, I believe that any gambling-based cryptocurrency needs to first prove itself with a use-case over transacting with a traditional cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Ether. Put simply, re-inventing the wheel isn’t always the best idea; and if players are happy using a certain cryptocurrency, there’s no need to change it.
Recently, PayPal has announced that it is ready to process crypto transactions. What is the next payment system that may become crypto-friendly?
Crypto is already available with plenty of reputable (and highly popular) PSPs. While we certainly commend PayPal’s endorsement of cryptocurrency and see it as a great chance to really highlight that this is now a mainstream product, they almost seem a bit late to the party! What I am really happy about is that we’re now at a tipping point where cryptos will become firmly established as a ‘normalised’ method of a transaction – which bodes very well for our prospects in the year ahead.
Cryptocurrencies’ price is changing constantly, which means that investors take risks and ‘gamble’ as they can only make suggestions about it. Do you agree with the statement that crypto trading is a kind of gambling?
Without a doubt – all financial trading is a gamble! Crypto’s volatility, such as what we’ve seen with Bitcoin over the last few weeks, is a testament to how such movements will always make this asset class attractive to investors. However, it is essential to separate the usage of crypto as a transactional medium of exchange for gambling from those who would see it as a speculative asset to ‘pump and dump’. In my view, the mainstream cryptocurrencies will continue to go up as it is basic economics – although if Bitcoin begins to approach a six-figure dollar value, that may affect player usage and their interaction with it given its high price.
Read more: Best Gambling Payment Providers
