The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption on a global scale, at a level never seen before. The effects of this pandemic are set to be felt for years to come, and many industries and sectors will be forever changed as a result as well. However, this could also mark a turning point for some of them, with innovation being accelerated as a result, while several developments have also taken place which could actually benefit these sectors in the long-term. The online gaming and gambling sector is one such area, where the pandemic could be the tipping point for how these will look in the future.
Analysis has shown that sales of games across 50 markets globally rose by 63% this year, with spikes being seen whenever countries went into lockdown. For example, downloads rose by more than 180% in France during the first week of lockdown in the country, while there were similar increases seen in Spain (143%) and Italy (175%) during the start of their national lockdowns as well. This shows how people looking for ways to keep themselves entertained during this time turned to gaming all over the world, with gaming portals such as Paytm and Gamerji also seeing growth of 200% and 50% respectively in terms of new user signups.
It has been a similar story for online gambling as well, which has expanded despite regulations which may have constrained it in normal times. Internet gambling revenue rose by 65% in New Jersey to $65 million in March, for example, while they are set to exceed $700 million this year, up from $483 million in 2019. The market value of online gambling is also set to cross $160 billion by 2026, showing how this sector is set to grow due to the growing adoption of smartphones globally, along with easy access to gaming platforms, improved internet capabilities and advances in technology such as virtual reality as well as cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency-based gambling has also seen a huge rise in popularity during this time. For example, Bling, which is a US-based crypto gaming company, saw an increase of 50% in its user base in March, with 70,000 daily active users and nearly 400,000 monthly active users. Crypto-based gambling has many advantages – blockchain means that transactions are safe and transparent, while playing bitcoin slots offers better odds over traditional online casino games as well. The potential for fraud is also extremely low due to the presence of blockchain, which records transactions and can thus provide an audit trail.
Players also prefer to use cryptocurrencies on these platforms since they are much safer and less likely to be hacked, while their personal and financial details are safer on the blockchain technology. Finally, cryptocurrencies also offer anonymity. Thus, it is no surprise that many online gambling platforms are beginning to choose bitcoin-based blockchain to set up their operations. BitBoss is a good example of this, which is using Bitcoin SV to completely change how the online gambling industry works.
However, one issue has been that instant payments and withdrawals can be a problem with cryptocurrencies, since multiple confirmations are usually required before transactions can be processed. This means that transactions can take anywhere between 10 minutes and a few hours to go through, which is not acceptable for online players. However, combining the BSV blockchain with other solutions like GAP600, which has already been tested and implemented in various real-world crypto gambling platforms, can help mitigate these issues, thus creating a satisfactory customer experience which also meets the need for instant gratification that we usually see on online gambling sites.
