Casinos are nothing close to what we knew them to be back at the beginning of the twenty-first century or even to what they were a few years ago. For one thing, the fact that they have moved to the online environment is on its own the deepest and most radical transformation of all. But the development and advancement of casinos haven’t stopped there. There is indeed an ongoing evolution that is happening right in front of our eyes.
Today, in most parts of the world, the online gambling market grows at such a speedy rate and at such an impressive growth rate, that too soon we will be talking about it being the dominant segment of all gambling activity. Thanks to the internet and digital technologies, there is a new casino site emerging at a pace that was unthinkable in the past.
Every new casino site adds an extra layer of competition in an industry that is experiencing a surge in its revenues, fierce rivalry, and an unprecedented increase in the number of customers. To be able to leverage the growing market demand, online casinos expand their product offerings, add new casino games to their already existing portfolios, embrace sports betting, and generally extend the uses of their sites.
Lately, we are witnessing the emergence of NFTs in the world of online casinos and while the primary reason for the development of NFTs is not to attract new customers or make the existing customers more loyal, it appears that casino sites today are using them to increase their competitiveness. But let’s first see what NFTs are and how they get to make casinos more attractive for users.
What are NFTs?
NFTs or Non Fungible Tokens are digital assets that have a unique identity and they are used to demonstrate and prove ownership of one-of-a-kind things on the internet. Their use and their entire function are based on blockchain technology – just like cryptocurrencies – but their major difference with assets like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc. is that they can’t be divided, they can’t be exchanged for one another and therefore they are unique. Bitcoins or other cryptos are all identical – if you have two of them, each one stands for a value. But it doesn’t matter which one you get of the two Bitcoins. With NFTs, the problem of homogeneity in that sense is solved. NFTs ensure that each digital asset is one and distinctive and has a specific identification and ownership.
How do casinos use NFTs?
NFTs are used by online casinos in several different ways. At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to have more customers gamble, or have customers gamble more!
NFTs as prizes
Many online casinos now use NFTs as prizes in various games. Customers are not only entitled to getting money or even cryptos for winning at a casino game, but they can also win NFTs with unique value.
Betting with NFTs
Besides the already growing crypto betting, many casino sites are beginning to accept betting with NFTs. This kind of betting takes the whole NFT thing to a new level, where gaming and gambling co-develop and grow jointly.
NFTs as in-game collectables
eSports and gaming have become integral parts of the operations of online casinos. Customers are demanding eSports and gaming products to be available in their chosen casino sites and casino operators can’t do anything but align with this trend.
Lately, we see more and more online casinos offer in-game collectables in the form of NFTs, encouraging users to spend more time gaming or prompting them to make an effort to accomplish certain targets, milestones, and objectives to win these valuable assets.
Either way, NFTs are being vastly used by online casinos and gambling sites at the moment, but it’s highly unlikely that their opportunities have already been tapped sufficiently by the industry. The thing is that NFTs are still in their infancy and we are going to see more of them in the gambling market very shortly.