Crypto Sports Betting Market Trends and Predictions

Sports betting, as a form of entertainment, is really a revenue augmentation of either the sports or the gambling industry. Combining the two has been shown to be perhaps one of the most lucrative combinations ever created in the space as far as entertainment goes.

Adding sports betting to sports events is not hard to understand when considering that, according to Statista, by 2025, around 90 million people will watch any type of sport at least once a month. With that as a base, it is rather easy to understand that the potential for profit is immense.

As sports betting is far from a new “invention” (it first started getting popular back in the 1800s), its popularity has been growing exponentially in the last few decades. That is, of course, thanks to technology and the ways in which watching sports events has been made much easier.

Today, all we need to do is pick up that supercomputer from our pockets and start watching. Stats, highlights, reviews, interviews, you name it. You get everything presented to you in a format that best suits you.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that with such media power, there is also a chance to make even more profit while making sports betting even more accessible to players. This is where cryptocurrency enters the scene.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

Crypto and Sports Betting is a Match Made in Heaven

When “Satoshi Nakamoto” first launched the blockchain in the form of Bitcoin on January 3, 2009, it wasn’t immediately apparent just how much this new invention would impact the world and is still doing today.

However, since then, pretty much every industry driven by technology has adopted this new technology in some way or another. Just looking at the number of available cryptocurrencies (as of June 2023, there were 26,000+ cryptocurrencies available), it’s evident that the industry is thriving and that a lot of innovation is happening every day.

The sports betting industry is no exception. Perhaps being the most suitable industry to adopt crypto, players seem to love having a variety of currencies to choose from when playing their favorite online gambling game on platforms such as the ones presented on cryptobetting.com, for example.

So why are crypto and sports betting matches made in heaven? The fact that blockchain technology offers almost complete security and total transparency makes it the best technology for a gambling platform. Players can easily see if a game has been tampered with and also always rely on the fact that what goes on the blockchain stays on the blockchain. By this statement, I mean that no one can mess about with the numbers on the blockchain without leaving a trail.

Not only does the blockchain make transactions and games secure and transparent, but it also makes a huge difference in transaction speed. Speed that is vital when playing games that require fast transactions in order to keep up the adrenaline-filled on-screen experience in some games.

The Role of Cryptocurrencies in In-Play Betting

As the speed of transactions, when it comes to blockchain transactions, really only depends on what connection speed you have to the Internet and what cryptocurrency you are using, crypto makes for a perfect currency system for in-play betting (also known as Live Betting), for example.

In-play betting is a form of betting where you can place a bet on sporting events as they happen in real time. This form of betting has gained huge popularity because one can bet on changing odds while the game is ongoing. This is something that is almost only possible using cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.

The cool thing about in-play betting is really that it can be morphed into a plethora of sub-betting offerings. These range from real-time micro-betting, where instead of betting on the outcome of an event, you bet on who is going to score the next points in basketball or what the next lap time will be in a Formula 1 race.

It doesn’t really stop there, either. This can be adopted into fantasy sports gambling as well, making it an even more profitable endeavor, both for the casino operator and the bettor, as more bets can be placed during the duration of a game, race, or whatever you are watching.

Beyond 2024: The Crypto Sports Betting Road Ahead

When looking beyond 2024 and what the crypto sports betting industry has to offer in the future, there are a few things worth mentioning.

First, we could probably spend the majority of my day writing about the innovation in the space. However, a more immediate future most likely involves more regulatory actions when it comes to consumer protections, anti-money laundering, and fair play. This is a much-needed action in the online crypto sports betting landscape.

Second, the popularity of eSports will most likely make an ever greater impact in the crypto sports betting industry than it already has. With new eSports being launched seemingly monthly, it is highly likely that we’ll see more betting platforms offering their consumers the chance to bet on eSports events. This is, according to me, a given.

Lastly, the increase in adoption of cryptocurrency that we have seen in the last few years will pick up again once we are out of the crypto bear market, which we are slowly moving out of currently. This will bring more people to the blockchain, which in turn, will open up crypto sports betting to more people around the world.

Final Thoughts

Cryptocurrencies are not going anywhere, despite what some crypto-haters say. The technology (blockchain, smart contracts, etc.) is too good and too much of a security leap for the financial global block to ignore. This is why it’s only natural that crypto sports betting is only going to grow year on year. Sure, there is a point where even this industry will stagnate for a while. However, that is far from now, as the industry is, in all honesty, still in its infancy.

While there are still a few things that need attention, the gambling industry is many times more secure and transparent nowadays, using the blockchain, than it was just a few years ago. With that, I wish you all the luck in your betting strategies, and remember, never gamble for more than you can afford to lose. Always have a strategy and always stick to it.