How much of a correlation is there between the growth of cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency betting?
As we all recently saw, the crypto markets underwent a major correction and despite that, the market valuation is still an astounding $1.2trn and recovering. Regardless of the market fluctuations, the adoption of cryptocurrencies continues to accelerate worldwide, with the real-life uses for cryptocurrencies constantly emerging. In conjunction with the increasing adoption of crypto, Softswiss recently reported that cryptocurrency use in sports betting increased 117% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, compared to a 60% growth in overall sports betting. This indicates that the crypto betting market is expanding at a notably faster rate than the fiat equivalent.
When you match that with the projected 11% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of the global online gaming market size, expected to reach $154bn by 2030, we see crypto betting being a major factor in the growth of our industry.
It was amazing to see the ads for crypto exchanges during the recent Super Bowl, only being eclipsed by the online gaming ads. Then when you see teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat naming their arenas after Crypto.com and FTX, it just reinforces that crypto adoption is rapidly growing; and its use in online gaming is not slowing down.
What kind of volumes could Bet Coco see in terms of crypto betting?
Our parent company, Crystal WG, has plans to launch several iGaming brands over the next few years in both global and local markets, starting with BetCoco. We are backed by a Central American investment office that is aligned with our vision.
We have a passion for wagering and sports betting built on strong operational experience in land-based casinos, sportsbooks and the iGaming industry. Baked into that vision is the adoption of crypto and gamifying the player experience with NFTs, to expand our market reach into the crypto community.
Accordingly, we believe it’s critical that our industry keeps pace with the adoption of crypto. Per industry reports, crypto currently represents 35% of bets. With our focus on crypto we are projecting over 50% of our bets with crypto. We also plan to launch new crypto-only brands in the near future.
Do you realistically ever see crypto betting overtaking betting using fiat currencies?
Yes, we do because there are so many advantages with crypto for both the player and the operator. Things like faster deposits and withdrawals, low transaction fees, attractive bonuses, along with being reliable and secure.
We also see players being attracted to crypto usage due to more stringent regulations in many countries. Another factor in the growth of crypto betting is the growth of altcoins and their usage in iGaming overtaking bitcoin in the future.
We’re entering markets at a perfect time to earn a good share of the projected market growth, by giving our players the ability to enjoy all the benefits of cryptocurrencies.
In which markets/territories is crypto betting most popular?
We see markets like Canada, Germany, Australia, the UK, Finland, Norway and Brazil seeing significant growth in crypto betting.
However, in the developing world is where we see tremendous opportunities to enter markets to offer crypto betting. In countries with a history of financial volatility and where access to banking is difficult, cryptocurrency adoption is rapidly becoming a way of life.
Countries like Nigeria and Vietnam, which ranks first for crypto adoption worldwide, are part of a group of emerging markets we plan to enter in the near term.
As a matter of fact, recent data has shown that sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed North America to become the region with the highest level of crypto activity, which bodes well for use in iGaming.
What are Bet CoCo’s plans for the rest of the year?
Based on the positive trends in the global adoption of crypto and its increasing use in iGaming, we are making crypto a major focus of our multiple brand strategy.
We plan to grow across many territories this year, starting with Latin America, Brazil, Canada and India. However, as crypto has no boundaries and is only becoming more popular, we expect to see players coming from many other regions. Overall, we believe the adoption of crypto will be a big part of the industry’s growth and we don’t plan on being left behind.
Introducing Mike Fox
Mike Fox is the CFO at Crystal Wealth Group. With 20 years’ experience, Mike has in-depth knowledge of the casino industry, and in recent years has become an advisor on several cryptocurrency and NFT projects.
