Sports Betting has seen its fair share of changes over the last few years. In 2018, The U.S. Supreme Court moved to change a 1992 rule that had federally banned sports betting at one time. As states have moved to legalize sports betting, and with the advent of online commerce, sports betting has found a new home online, and the new online betting space has come with plenty of changes.
Don’t forget–not all states have legalized sports gambling–so wherever you are, be sure to check with your state and local authorities to make sure that sports betting is legal in your jurisdiction before making any bets. But, if you’re somewhere where gambling on sports is legal, and you practice responsible betting, you might be wondering if sports betting with cryptocurrency has changed the face of sports betting. And, the truth is it has–in a lot of ways.
Where Crypto Comes In
One of the biggest changes recently has been the inclusion of cryptocurrency in sports betting. Cryptocurrency is changing the landscape of sports betting in many ways. For one, crypto has opened up a new world of payment options and currency options to use for sports betting. Popular cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are now being used to bet just like at one-time fiat currencies were. This offers users additional ways to bet on sports and additional choices that they, at one time, didn’t have–like what currency to bet with.
Cryptocurrency has also changed the very structure of sports betting in many cases, enabling betters to cut out intermediaries that were once necessary for traditional sports betting. Cryptocurrency has also changed the way sports betting looks by enabling a wider range of people from all over the world to be able to participate using global cryptocurrencies. We’re here to talk about some of the ways crypto is changing the face of sports betting.
The Security of Blockchain Tech
One of the big ways that crypto has changed the way sports betting looks is through the sense of security that blockchains may be able to bring. Since blockchains are decentralized, they’re considered very secure and very difficult to hack–though that doesn’t mean they’re foolproof. A good way to think about it is that nothing is unhackable. With blockchain, it would just be theoretically much more difficult. When you’re working with money–you know, like betting–that’s a really big deal.
Blockchains offer a sense of security to betters, which can be quite attractive. For some people, the most important thing is finding a safe place to bet. While nothing is foolproof, and blockchain doesn’t mean that security concerns are a thing of the past, many people see blockchain as a big step forward toward increasing security when trading currencies online and even betting.
The Privacy Of Blockchain
Since a hallmark of blockchain is an open source, easily accessible ledger, it might seem like it’s perfectly tailored to things like sports betting, where ledgers are an important part of the whole thing. Many users may see blockchain as an effective way to address concerns they might’ve held about privacy as well.
Since transactions on blockchain ledgers are fully visible but also often somewhat anonymous, some users might be much more comfortable using blockchain in order to place bets on sports and protect their privacy.
Increasing Accessibility
Since cryptocurrency is widely available and available around the world, betting using cryptocurrency might change who is able to bet in the first place, attracting a wider crowd of potential betters than traditional sports betting–even online betting–might have at one time.
Enabling users to bet without minimum bets also enhances accessibility and allows a wider range of people to participate in sports betting, even if they want to keep their betting relatively low-stakes. The inclusion of cryptocurrency in sports betting with crypto also might attract different types of betters who are interested in crypto as well as in sports betting.
Bringing Two Worlds Together
With the world of crypto and the world of sports betting colliding, there are a lot of new opportunities for both crypto enthusiasts and sports betting enthusiasts and a lot of room for growth. Since crypto is relatively new, it’s likely that we’ll continue to see how cryptocurrency can be integrated into the world of sports betting and vice versa.
The Variety of Cryptocurrency
One big way cryptocurrency is changing the landscape of sports betting is through the sheer number of new currencies that people can now use to place sports bets. Which type of cryptocurrency to use, which digital wallet to use, and the values of cryptocurrencies converted to fiat currencies are all important new considerations for betters to take if they’re interested in betting on sports using cryptocurrency.
While some cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, have plenty of name recognition, there’s no limit to the number of novel coins and blockchains that can be developed in the future. One thing is for sure–the world of cryptocurrency is expansive. Sports bettors who are interested in using crypto to bet on sports may need to take additional considerations.
Taking Out The Middlemen
With the introduction of crypto in sports betting, opportunities to place bets without needing to find an intermediary, go-between, or middleman have been abundant. While at one time, someone might’ve needed to work with a bookie or intermediary to place bets on sports, users are now able to place live bets, bet online, and use cryptocurrency to bet without needing a bookie or middle person. For many bettors, this can go a long way toward driving their trust in the system.
Decentralization For All
You might already know that blockchains are decentralized. That’s one of their big selling points, after all. But, consider how this disrupts the betting industry. Rather than a handful of entities controlling all of the sports betting opportunities, the entire world of sports betting has become increasingly decentralized as people have begun sports betting with cryptocurrency.
Blockchain and crypto sports betting are new approaches to sports betting that has the potential to shift the power dynamics of sports betting significantly.
Transparency in The Process
One of the ways cryptocurrencies sometimes differ significantly from other types of currency is their level of transparency. In sports betting with crypto, bettors have a way to see the ledger directly, and for some people, this is a huge win already.
Betters might trust a decentralized blockchain ledger a lot more than they once trusted bookies and sports betting organizations. With this extreme transparency, it’s possible to see sports betting gain some new users who at one time wouldn’t trust the process enough.
New Challenges
With the inclusion of cryptocurrencies in sports betting, there are also plenty of new challenges to address along the way. Some new challenges that crypto might bring to sports betting include regulatory hurdles, the speed of adoption, and a relatively new landscape that can come with new types of scams and frauds.
Fraud and Scams
Any time you introduce a new technology–particularly one used with money, you run the risk of running into new types of fraud and scams. As the world of blockchain is relatively new and little understood, we may see problems with fraud and scams emerge as well.
Regulation
As of now, crypto is largely unregulated, which means that sports betting using crypto currency is operating in a big legal gray area. Depending on where you’re located, authorities and lawmakers may make changes that put legal restrictions on betting with cryptocurrency or using cryptocurrency in general.
Just as the world of cryptocurrency is relatively new and fresh, so is the regulatory landscape around cryptocurrency. We can expect to see regulatory action on crypto in the future. As well, people might be hesitant to place bets using crypto, knowing that it could soon be regulated.
Adoption
As crypto grows in popularity, more and more people certainly know about it, but adoption is another key challenge to the world of crypto and sports betting. While blockchains are decentralized, they still rely on individual nodes in order to operate, so adoption is one sign of success in a given cryptocurrency. This can present a challenge in the world of sports betting.
Accessibility
While many very popular cryptocurrencies experience a high trading volume, meaning that plenty of people are trading with them, they’re still a novel new technology that many people might consider out of reach for them. For new users who wish to bet on sports using cryptocurrency, understanding how to use cryptocurrency, what cryptocurrency is, and what a crypto wallet is might be the steep challenges they face. This can be a major deterrent to adoption.
The Bottom Line
The world of sports betting has changed a lot over the years–and the inclusion of cryptocurrency as a new way to bet on sports is no exception. Crypto has already changed the face of sports betting and will continue to do so.
Some of the ways that crypto is changing the face of sports betting include: adding a new layer of privacy to online transactions, enabling users to choose different currencies to bet with, the security of decentralized blockchains, and changing the power dynamics of sports betting to become less centralized.
There’s probably a whole world of changes that cryptocurrency will bring to the world of sports betting that we’ve yet to even see. In the meantime, we can note just how much sports betting has already changed since people started betting using cryptocurrencies.
