Will 2022 be the year cryptocurrency and iGaming combine?

A potential marriage between cryptocurrency and iGaming could be on the cards in 2022.

Cryptocurrency had always played a part in online gaming with fast and secure transactions that crypto can offer, as well as being able to work in countries where they prohibit the use of its fiat currency for online casinos but do not regulate cryptocurrency.

Users are at a disadvantage when transferring money through conventional methods as it requires a processing fee, whereas cryptocurrency does not.

The consistent crossovers between cryptocurrency and iGaming, therefore, make sense but a permanent relationship had been developing with a range 0f big-money moves being made between the two industries.

A group of cryptocurrency investors organised a $1 million poker tournament to take place during April’s BTC Miami conference, in what could become one of the largest buy-in tournaments of all time, with only the likes of Triton and the World Series of Poker matching the $1 million entry.

A meeting of the two industries occurred in July this year where a crypto poker charity tournament hosted by proprietary trading firm MGNR raised $100,000 for charity.

With entry into the tournament costing $1,000 of stablecoin USDC, 50% of all buy-ins were put aside for the FTX Foundation which has raised more than $10m for charity over the past year.

Online casinos have already created exclusive crypto casinos where fiat currency is not supported and transactions are entirely completed in crypto with Norway being a trendsetter with both an Ethereum and Bitcoin casino.

With Scandinavia being one of the strongest crypto markets in the world, iGaming had become an important cog in the region’s digital economy with its people using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin to play their favourite online casino games.

Gilfred Helmonsen, a gambling expert from Norway, said iGaming had undoubtedly led to the increase of cryptocurrency popularity in the nation.

“One of the main reasons cryptos gained so much in popularity is the rise of online casinos, as well as restrictions on certain payment methods such as credit cards,” he said.

People always find a way to work around governmental restrictions, and discreet and untraceable crypto transactions are perfect for such manoeuvres.”

Gambling tokens such as FunFair (FUN) enjoyed a fruitful year with their prices increasing by 156.6% over the past year, according to CoinGecko.

The increasing growth and interest in the iGaming sector led the token to surge by 183% by February of this year, demonstrating the power that could be generated by the alliance of cryptocurrency and the iGaming factions.