A recent Swiss firm Sportradar report showed that while match-fixing events in the world of online sports betting were small over the last five years, there was a ripple in yet another crucial data point, apparently because of key figures in high-profile cases sent to gaol or otherwise curtailed activities.
That is, there is a growing tendency for people to use cryptocurrency as their payment method for illicit wetting activities.
The fact that betting amounts on illegal gambling tends to show upward growth is attributable to the two factors: the growing availability of cryptocurrency payment services; and the fact that cryptocurrency is possibly one of the simple forms of payment to use in large betting settings that you don’t wish to note.
Companies like Unikrn are developing in-house cryptocurrencies to halt any type of fraud.
The scale of the problem is how large? A recent study by Transparency International in Berlin reveals that in Asia alone, in 2018, the illegal gambling industry produced revenues of approximately $400 trillion.
It sounds huge, but it must be remembered that China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, are some of the largest population centres in the world today.
On the face, it sounds like crypto-monetary play, certainly in Asia, facilitates illegal play, but is that actually the case?
When viewing these results, there are a number of other factors to consider. First of all there is a growing trend towards cryptocurrency as a means of payment for bookmakers and betting sites. This is very convenient for vendors and punters due to the lack of a crypto-payment intermediary.
It also avoids other problems, such as credit card and bank account fraud, and obviously provides a further level of security to its encryption cryptography. It should, however, be noted that many card issuers have made playing legally, by using deposit and withdrawal services so difficult for people in Asia particularly, that many are searching for a more easy alternative.
Such facts are easy to combine with the rise of illicit gambling with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and conclude that one drives the other.
Some other details tell a different storey from a closer examination. John Caldwell, Director of Advocacy for the CasinoCoin Foundation, states that the bulk of gambling funds still are a standard currency and that crypto still only represents a small share of the whole industry.
And that’s why, it’s not just crypto-monetary gambling, but it’s a culture that has existed since gambling started, and technological progress has encouraged its development. Safeguards are already in place to ensure a safe place for the next generation of punters who enjoy sports or esports betting on different esports betting sites.
Illegal gambling is about whether or not there was a cryptocurrency and although its unique qualities may intensify certain types of illegal gambling, this is by no means the root cause of it.