The report found that bitcoin was the dominant cryptocurrency, accounting for more than 90 per cent of traffic. Meanwhile, ethereum and litecoin made up the remaining 10 per cent, following in second and third place respectively.

“The absolute and relative value of cryptocurrency gambling traffic has increased threefold in 2020, compared to 2019,” said Andrey Starovoitov, COO at SoftSwiss. 

“Bitcoin is no longer exotic. In the coming years, we expect to see even more gaming studios supporting cryptocurrencies in their games, as well as casino operators integrating new crypto payment methods for their players.”

SoftSwiss Game Aggregator statistics found that cryptocurrency usage had increased on a global scale, with particular growth in Canada, Latin America and Russia. 

The report concluded that the rapidly growing popularity of cryptocurrency as a means of payment leads to a rising interest in crypto gambling, a marketplace previously dominated by fiat.

More than 3,000 games on the group’s game aggregator platform support the use of cryptocurrency, which the provider explained can be added to any gaming software platform through an API integration.

Real Dealer Studios became the most recent company to join forces with SoftSwiss which will see the games producer make its entire suite of titles available to operators that are powered by the SoftSwiss platform.

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Speaking to CasinoBeats, BGaming director Marina Ostrovtsova dissects the reasons why crypto is helping the game developer to meet the needs of its partners while also elevating the overall player experience. 

CasinoBeats: BGaming has been labeled as the first slot developer to incorporate cryptocurrency within their titles, what made you make this decision? And how popular has it been with players? 

MO: This label is tightly connected to our roots and the time when we started building games. So this is in our history already. 

This is not a secret that we are a part of the group of companies that includes different platforms for online casinos, so when we decided to build the platform for crypto casino, this was the obvious choice to incorporate this into the games. 

When everybody on the market was trying to flirt with cryptocurrency, we actually had a very serious affair and that is how it transformed into the label. 

The interest in crypto is still growing and we, of course, keep abreast of the situation. BGaming expands its presence in crypto projects. For example, a few weeks ago BGaming started cooperation with BetBit, the world’s first bitcoin casino. We are going to widen the partnership with another crypto project Wagerx shortly. 

CasinoBeats: Within your games, which cryptocurrencies have you implemented and what was the process in deciding? 

MO: From the very beginning, the obvious choice was BTC, that is how it all started. Litecoin and Dogecoin jumped in straight after. This threesome was alive and kicking until Etherium started rocking. So we saw the demand from operators and this was just a matter of settings until we enabled this one. Further, this was already a process for us – seeing this demand, and reacting accordingly. 

It is always about feeling what your current clients need, about identifying it with what we have on the market. So this is the foremost. The second major would be the system itself – from the very start we have built the system to be able to work with any currency out there even if this does not yet exist. 

CasinoBeats: Cryptocurrency lives in a very volatile market with its value altering on a nearly hourly basis. Is this an issue when it comes to using digital currency?

MO: This is an excellent question, and for sure this is an issue. It is important to answer another question though – what are these realistic use cases for our business?

For the game provider, this is just the currency players making their bets and using crypto in the whole portfolio of currencies supported is just broadening the audience and gives this audience more flexibility and freedom. 

But here we can stumble upon another issue – if our business has an effective system in place to balance and manage the risks. Speaking on behalf of a game developer, it is essential to have a flexible system to reflect all the changes. 

Accepting cryptocurrencies makes game suppliers always be prepared to change (either the bets in the game, or the system itself) and this is challenging on its own. From the very beginning, we all do it manually, moving slowly to more automated versions of our systems and platforms. 

CasinoBeats: In the past, we’ve seen changes in interest around cryptocurrency. Are current levels of enthusiasm here to stay? And how can slot developers make the most of the opportunities presented by the crypto space?

MO: Let’s be honest – millions of people around the world have been observing the hype around bitcoin lately, even those who have never used them before even a tiny bit. Many celebrities were tweeting it as if this is their regular basic staff to share, which can be true. So this is already something deeply rooted in society. And I am not only talking about our industry specifically, a lot more people nowadays want to be a part of it, want to understand the technology standing behind it. 

Many people are already using blockchain technologies, sometimes not even realising it. So this is already an ecosystem we live in and yes, there will always be enthusiasm around it. 

For the game provider – we can try to use the technology to the fullest in our production life cycle as this one is one of the most progressive and flexible.

CasinoBeats: How significant is the transparency and efficiency of digital currency to boosting your players’ user experience?

MO: First of all – you can play internationally, but not only play but withdraw faster from anywhere in the world without any restrictions. Also, you can feel more secure while using crypto and you can stay anonymous. All of that is already boosting player experience. 

Still, this is the level of interaction with an operator. Now what is left is to pick your favourite place to play at and one of the BGaming titles and have a great time. 

CasinoBeats: Moving forward, what do you envisage in the future collaboration with online casinos and the cryptosphere? Will we see more and more casinos develop their own wallets for crypto and see more titles incorporate various currencies? 

MO: I envision the room – the space for innovation. 

With more restrictions and rules nowadays we can see some cryptocurrencies specifically created for online gaming (there are several examples already). Those tailored coins allow maintaining low transaction costs, immediate transfers, and more security. 

From the developer’s point of view – the process of being emerged into new technologies and processes can be even more fascinating than playing games. 

The post Marina Ostrovtsova: Why cryptocurrency is an integral part of the BGaming story appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Turnover has notably increased across the Asian market, found the report, with the solutions provider stating that this was ‘largely due to the entry of cryptocurrency casinos into this region’, complemented by traffic growth in Japan, India and Indonesia.

SoftSwiss COO Andrey Starovoitov commented: “Our clients continue expanding to the LatAm region, and although it is too early to talk about significant volumes, we expect to see Brazil among the leaders in the nearest future.”

Looking at individual cryptocurrencies, the report noted that ethereum (ETH) had ‘doubled its share’ – up from 4.5 per cent in Q1 2020 to a ‘record’ 10 per cent in Q1 2021. This currency, said SoftSwiss, became ‘the most used’ cryptocurrency in India at the end of Q1 2021.

Litecoin’s share fell from 4 per cent to 3.5 per cent while Dogecoin’s share tripled from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent. However, Bitcoin remained the most popular form of crypto payment, accounting for 83 per cent of all cryptocurrency transactions. 

Evolution’s live games appear to be the most popular games for crypto, with Aztec Magic Deluxe, Elvis Frog in Vegas by BGaming, and Wild Spin Blackjack VIP by Platipus all attracting high volumes of traffic.

The post SoftSwiss Game Aggregator report highlights cryptocurrency growth appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Continuing upon a previously set ambition “to bring blockchain gaming to the masses,” emphasised when introducing a new crypto wallet and updated user interface earlier this year, five new cryptocurrency payment options have been integrated as per the terms of the deal.

FunFair has integrated Changelly’s exchange API into its recently launched FunFair wallet, allowing players to swap various cryptocurrencies for its gambling token, Fun.

As a result registered players will now be able to bring the likes of Bitcoin, Tron and Litecoin to one of its partner casinos, CasinoFair and CryptoCasino, and trade for Fun without leaving the platform or needing third-party exchange accounts.

“Funfair is a project I have been following for the past couple years and the team behind it is one of the best from both the gaming and crypto industries,” noted Eric Benz, CEO at Changelly. 

“I look forward to the integration of the Changelly API as this will benefit both customers and the partner companies who will utilise the FunFair wallet.”

The Isle of Man licensed entity states that the agreement will further enhance a users on-site journey, via the reduction of friction between sign-up and gameplay, while also opening up its FunFair powered casinos to new consumers.

In addition to the five cryptocurrency funding options integrated at launch more are set to follow in the future, as well as “strong liquidity and instant transactions”. 

Fred Kessler, CPO at FunFair Technologies Europe, commented: “Integrating Changelly’s user-friendly exchange will open up our platform to a vast new audience of crypto-holders and allow for a far superior on-boarding journey.

“To date, players must own Fun to play, but this new partnership of choice will allow for holders of the likes of Bitcoin to experience the best in blockchain gaming without the added hurdle of heading off-site to use a crypto exchange.”

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Vowing to put “customers at the centre of the universe” as it strives to offer the industry’s widest range of currency options, with this latest introduction coming off the back of a feedback process.

Following the launch of the newly enhanced Bitcasino online and mobile offering, a large number of Bitcasino’s player base requested the introduction of Litecoin.

The bitcoin casino operated by Coingaming falls in line with the groups core philosophy of placing its “customers at the centre of the universe,” with its development team delivering the Litecoin offering “in record time,” enabling players to select from and use a wide variety of currencies.

Bitcasino has recently relaunched its online and mobile products “with load speeds up to eight times faster than its competitors offering the industry’s most advanced, mobile-first and customer-friendly casino product”.

Players can now deposit, play, win and withdraw in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, while also taking advantage of BTCXE, the industry-first fiat-to-Bitcoin currency converter.

Tauri Tiitsaar, head of casino at Bitcasino.io, commented: “We pride ourselves on listening to our players and, after a great deal of feedback and interaction, we took the immediate step to deliver what our customers wanted.

“By consistently striving to put our players at the heart of everything we do, we’re creating the ultimate fun, fast and fair gaming experience. The introduction of Litecoin is yet another example of how we want to make our customers our priority, and give them complete control of their experience.”

Launched in October 2011 as a spin-off to Bitcoin, Litecoin is lauded as “the world’s third most popular altcoin behind Ethereum and Bitcoin and offers players rapid processing speeds and lower transaction fees”.

Both Ethereum and Bitcoin have already been integrated into the Bitcasino gaming experience, generating record numbers of transactions in 2018 as a result.

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