Despite the major economic dips in the last few years, cryptocurrency and online poker are two industries that have seen major growth. While the number of crypto owners in the UK has grown six-fold over three years, online poker has logged a 30% user spike in the past year. As such, it’s no surprise that these two rising markets have collided into the increasingly popular crypto poker.
What is Crypto Poker?
Crypto poker relies on speculative digital currencies, rather than fiat currencies, to top up, bet, and cash out in-game. Aside from this, crypto poker is generally the same as regular online poker. The rules of the game and the tactics to win at poker are still the same. Just as you would be careful to manage your bankroll and play a balanced range with fiat money, you will do the same when using crypto.
Although there is a bit of a learning curve in the transition from fiat to crypto-backed online poker, over 90% of current players believe they can amplify cashouts with cryptocurrency.
Advantages of Crypto Poker
Most crypto poker sites offer bonuses
Many poker sites that support cryptocurrencies also offer sizable welcome bonuses. New players or new cryptocurrency users can receive bonuses of over 100%. Since demand for crypto cash-outs is rising, many sites regularly increase their bonuses.
Using crypto can be cheaper and faster
Cryptocurrencies are relatively cheaper to transact since there are little to no transaction fees due to the technology’s decentralised nature. The last of a middleman also ensures that deposits and withdrawals are settled in a matter of seconds.
Blockchain technology prevents scamming
Since crypto works on the secure blockchain ledger, all assets and transactions are immediately verified and logged. This protects your funds from being manipulated or corrupted. Regular online poker is much more open to attacks and hacks that could result in your personal details and financial information being lost.
How to Join Crypto Poker
Purchase poker site-supported crypto
If you’ve already got an active exchange account, then feel free to skip to the next step. Otherwise, you’ve got to sign up with a crypto exchange first. There are loads of options out there, but be sure to check their security protocols, purchase methods, and what coins and tokens they support. This assures safe and convenient access to the crypto you need.
Once you’ve set up your account, open a crypto wallet. In the UK, 46% of adults prefer to store their crypto in their exchange’s wallet, but having a separate one can be more secure. You can now purchase crypto for poker. Among the most popular currencies used in poker sites are Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB).
Join a crypto poker site
Finally, you can sign up for a crypto poker site — assuming you don’t already have an account. To start actively using crypto, go to your poker site’s cashier and select crypto deposit. Here you can input the specific amount you want to transfer for gaming use. Then, simply copy the poker site’s crypto address into your crypto wallet’s send form. After processing this transaction, within about 30 minutes, your poker balance will reflect your crypto deposit. From here you can start playing online poker as normal.
Because crypto has become so widely recognised, people have been looking for more ways to enjoy it in daily life. Aside from its use in online poker, another way that crypto has been gamified is via more casual games like Axie. By integrating cryptocurrency with entertainment platforms, these tokens’ mainstream usage occasion continues to gain traction.
