Anyone with even a casual interest in the world of finance will be fully aware of how Bitcoin, altcoins, and blockchain have become such enormous news since the early part of the 2010s. Over the same period, gambling companies have thrust themselves into the spotlight by leveraging online innovations to amplify what their platforms offer.
This might be a rather basic place to begin, but the correlation and simultaneous growth of these two sectors meant they were on a collision course. That’s not to say that cryptocurrency has taken over the world of betting, whether it is niche markets, in-play, or more mainstream options, but what it has done is create an environment where customers have plenty of innovative fintech at their disposal, and in the market of in-play betting, this is where we have seen some of the most profound changes over the last decade.
Niche Betting Markets & Crypto
Although mainstream sports betting markets have evolved significantly over the last twenty years, the rise of cryptocurrency has coincided with the emergence of digital-only professional betting markets. For instance, professional video gaming tournaments are now one of the fastest-growing niches in the sports gaming world.
Despite their popularity soaring at the beginning of the 2010s, it still wasn’t a market that many mainstream betting companies had close ties with. Cryptocurrency betting sites were among the first to make inroads into the world of pro video gaming, or esports, as it is more commonly known, and have created a number of markets that, in many ways, are identical to those in other professional sports.
Some of the top games in the industry, such as Valorant, have audiences of millions that span the globe, and, because of the dynamics of elite tournaments, they can be used by betting companies to offer a range of in-play and outright markets specific to Valorant. Those who bet on Valorant matches have seen these markets evolve significantly in a short space of time.
In-play betting is just one of the many markets that those who bet on Valorant matches look for, but because of the borderless form of competition that professional video gaming has created, this has led to a rise in the number of people using borderless payment options – crypto.
As the internet has become the one-stop for all things Valorant, whether you are watching tournaments and matches or looking for tips, as you can see in the link below, it was almost inevitable that betting markets, crypto, and esports would combine.
Expanding Across Every Market
In-play betting is a market that impacts every sports betting market, and if we take a step back and zoom out while looking at the betting market more generally, it’s clear to see that the conditions that have emerged over the last decade have helped blockchain and crypto become the most impactful and exciting new fintech in the iGaming market.
In 2024, the cryptocurrency market soared by over 120% – and when any market posts these sorts of returns, then everyone will sit up and take notice. This includes traditional finance professionals, casual investors, and those who have made money in digital assets, seeking a platform to use their tokens. Again, this is where crypto comes into play.
Now, if we are talking specifically about in-play betting, then crypto did not solely focus on this market and establish itself. It has been more of a broader adoption. As digital marketing enabled gambling companies to expand into new markets and adopt new ideas, there was a drive to find payment options that felt fresher, newer, and more global, rather than the older, more traditional forms of payment.
The right advertisements can benefit businesses considerably, and over the last decade, it has been crypto betting platforms that have used their forward-thinking to take on the onus and appeal to a more contemporary audience.
What Does The Future Hold?
In-play betting markets have risen to new highs due to the quality of the market’s underlying dynamics. Nowadays, we can sit around on our phones, fire up a mobile browser or app, and start placing in-play bets. The number of markets catering to live betting has exponentially increased and shows little to no signs of relenting.
Cryptocurrency, as we have already touched on today, bridges so many of these gaps. You do not incur cross border fees, nor do you have any charges levied on your payment, which can often be the case with credit cards and some bank transactions, and with many of the world’s top economies now warming to the idea of integrating blockchain and cryptocurrency into their financial systems, in-play betting will continue to be the battleground for many of the top betting companies looking to get their hands on the action.
While it is a challenge to predict just how the market will look in a decade, crypto and blockchain are almost certainly going to play a part in it. How big that role will be is still up for debate.
