Crypto vs standard currency: Which is best for online casinos? (2023)

The Coin Republic

23 May 2023

Online casinos are no longer the standalone, shiny new part of the gambling sector. Over the last 15 years, there’s been a sensational development in the considerable number of innovations and products that the gambling world has to offer, thanks to the avenues that wouldn’t have been available without online casinos.

We’ll be exploring all the positives and negatives of standard currency casinos. We will also compare them to the latest viable contender to emerge in recent years — cryptocurrency casinos.

On the face of it, it might look like the only thing that separates cryptocurrency and standard currency casinos is the method you use to withdraw and deposit your funds. However, while they differ from US sweepstakes casinos, where you can gamble primarily with free coins and do not have to stake any of your funds, crypto and online casinos both require some form of payment.

Even though this is the obvious key difference, more subtle factors separate them too, which has resulted in the sector gaining some traction over the last couple of years. Let’s look at the key elements that have shaped the rise of this new type of casino.

Although a few factors can ultimately drive your decision about whether you use a cryptocurrency or a standard currency casino, many people cite that both have pros and cons. Of course, if cryptocurrency casinos didn’t have significant benefits, they wouldn’t be rising to prominence in their current fashion.

Standard currency casinos accept all versions of payments; credit/debit cards are often the most common, but most casinos will allow you to deposit using a wide range of different methods. For example, most casinos will allow you to use PayPal and other payment services, such as a direct wire transfer so that you can put money into your account on their site.

Cryptocurrency casinos have started to become popular due to Bitcoin’s decentralized nature. You can use other cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin is the most popular if you use digital assets to gamble. It is the most visible in the space and the most well-known by people with a passing interest in the area.

Much like gambling, the regulation surrounding Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies varies wildly depending on the region of the world you’re in. Countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates are all locations where cryptocurrency innovation is actively encouraged, with many innovative companies specializing in digital assets setting up in each of these three countries.

The gambling laws within these countries also operate across a broad range. In the United Arab Emirates, it is illegal to gamble in any format, and it is punishable by prison; however, countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia have extremely loose gambling regulations which allow you to place bets online.

Both industries need liberal legislation for cryptocurrency to be effective. Most recently, the SEC in America has undertaken a strict, serious crackdown on some of the biggest cryptocurrency companies in the country. It is widely believed that they will bring in new legislation regarding cryptocurrency within the next 12 to 18 months.

Ultimately, this regulation, in the world’s largest economy, could be the catalyst that propels crypto casinos to the mainstream or keeps it on the fringes of the gambling sector.

One of the big selling points of cryptocurrency casinos would be the wallets you use to deposit your digital assets. You can connect your wallet directly, peer-to-peer, there’s no bank overseeing the transaction in the middle, and you do not need to worry about your financial details becoming exposed to a potential data breach.

While data breaches within the casino industry are rare, if a rogue agent accesses their systems, your cryptocurrency wallet address can’t provide any information about your bank account or personal information. It isn’t totally anonymous, which is why law enforcement has been doing an excellent job recently of getting back money stolen within the industry, but if you are looking to gamble, cryptocurrency casinos are by far the best option for anonymity.

Standard currency casinos have had a head start regarding game selection, as their profits have skyrocketed over the last few decades. They have established highly profitable and solid working relationships with some of the biggest game developers within the sector.

Before the internet changed the landscape of online casino gaming, many developers worked in console gaming development. However, as our world advanced and mobile gaming and digital casinos became colossal profit-generating industries, more innovative companies started to move into the space.

As a customer, you benefit from this via the dozens of weekly fresh releases in the slot machine industry. These games feature some of the top designs, graphics, story lines and bonus features to ensure that you receive a premium experience. Unfortunately, although crypto casinos are catching up by providing a more significant range of titles, standard currency casinos are still far ahead for now.

You can find titles where you can use cryptocurrency and standard currency. For example, if you play roulette, you can find multiple ways to play with both types, so it is always a good idea to shop around.

While it is rare to encounter significant issues when making a deposit using your credit card or via a wire transfer, it can be incredibly frustrating and time-consuming to resolve the problem promptly. Fortunately, if you use a reputable casino with a dedicated customer service department, you can sort this issue out quickly.

However, it’s not always the casino operator who is to blame. Sometimes your bank will freeze a transaction if they don’t like the look of it, prompting you to contact them to clarify what the payment is for. While this is standard procedure, and they do this to protect your money, that’s sometimes not a good enough reason if you just want to play a few casino games, but it has taken you two hours to deposit your money with the website.

Cryptocurrency casinos have taken advantage; decentralized means no entity in the middle facilitates the transaction, such as a bank. Once you have connected your wallet, you deposit your money instantly, there’s no red tape, and you don’t have to worry about anything being flagged by your bank, so although both methods are rapid, you are more likely to have issues when you use a standard currency than a cryptocurrency.

As mentioned earlier, the anonymity of cryptocurrency wallets will help you immensely if a casino company is subjected to a breach. Although banks will often refund any fraudulent transactions on your bank account that was ultimately out of your control, ideally, you don’t want this to happen in the first place.

Despite what some news reports say, cryptocurrency wallets are highly secure. They are almost impossible to access unless you hand over your keys to somebody. However, the same applies to standard currency too. Your account is incredibly secure unless you hand over your banking passwords and details to someone.

So, although both score highly in this category, the edge goes to cryptocurrency casinos again. Even in the event of a breach, however slight the possibility is, you don’t have to worry about personally identifiable information falling into the wrong hands.