Online Casinos Poised to Propel Crypto & NFT Gaming
It’s no secret that crypto- and NFT-based gaming are on the rise. Games like Axie Infinity and CryptoKitties have been around for a little while now, helping to get people interested in NFTs while also offering engaging content. And they only tell a small portion of the crypto gaming story that’s beginning to develop.
Another part of that story belongs to online casinos. While they don’t always get attention in commentary about cryptos and NFTs in gaming, there are several ways in which they’re poised to help propel the rise of this new branch of the gaming world.
More Established Than You Think
Crypto casinos and poker sites have already popped up, and were in fact among the earliest examples of crypto gaming (though we’re not referring to the first online casino, which oddly enough was launched by a company called CryptoLogic in 1996 in a bit of accidental foreshadowing). Nowadays, there are some new poker and casino sites founded specifically to deal in crypto –– as well as long-established gaming sites that are newly embracing crypto deposits.
Rest assured, the trend toward these kinds of options isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Cryptocurrency more broadly is becoming more popular seemingly by the day. Investment markets are busier, more stores are accepting digital currency… NBC News even called crypto the perfect holiday gift! All of this is only going to make digital assets more prominent, and provide more incentive for casinos to further their embrace.
Jackpot!
Online casinos are largely structured toward rewards, even beyond basic game winnings. Numerous sites have progressive jackpots, wherein funds are built up over time and then doled out to a lucky winner. Similarly, Gala Bingo’s casino has popularized the concept of tournament play revolving around some of the most popular online games. These tournaments involve hundreds of players at a time and see prize money mount up by the round. Rewards, bonuses, and prizes like these yield large payouts that could easily be paid in crypto –– and likely will be in the near future.
Chances are that players will be able to choose how they’d most like to receive their payouts (just like they can choose how to pay for tokens or poker chips). This in turn would bring crypto rewards into casino gaming in a big way.
Play-To-Win
In addition to bonuses and tournaments, online casinos also offer things like free spins on slots, matching welcome deposit bonuses, and other perks. These can fit into the play-to-earn model that’s developing in crypto and NFT gaming. VentureBeat’s explanation of gaming in this style clarifies that in play-to-earn scenarios, players earn rewards simply by going through games.
For the most part, this works out such that if people deposit a given amount of cash, play a given number of games, or reach certain milestones or achievements, they get crypto rewards added to their accounts. This way, companies retain players for a longer period of time without frustration or dissatisfaction on the players’ end. And the format is an extremely natural fit for casinos that already offer perks for similar reasons.
Future Plans
While this hasn’t been put in place yet, we could also see online slot games in which you can win NFTs on the reels. For instance, imagine that if you get a certain arrangement of identical digital symbols, you’re gifted with that symbol’s NFT as a unique digital asset. A few years ago that sentence wouldn’t even have made sense. Now it sounds like something online casinos will likely incorporate within months.
Overall, it’s clear that cryptocurrency and NFTs have already found their way into online casinos and poker platforms, and it’s just a matter of time before these platforms begin to play a larger role in the cryptocurrency world. Keep an eye out for these payment (and payout) options the next time you check out an online casino platform –– and don’t be surprised if you start hearing more about casinos as the crypto gaming world continues to blossom.
