Online gaming and crypto – is the industry still invested or has it lost interest?

The cryptocurrency industry is champing at the bit to make the sort of inroads into markets and audiences that online gaming has effortlessly expanded into over the last 20 years. Of course, it helps that online gaming is a much easier sell than blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. 

Cryptocurrency is clearly innovative, and those who believe the market doesn’t have potential have either not studied it adequately or don’t understand how blockchain works. This might sound harsh, but it’s true. 

Blockchain and cryptocurrency companies have seen investment from Microsoft, multibillion-dollar capital injections via BlackRock ETFs – the world’s most prominent asset management company – and Elon Musk putting Bitcoin on Tesla’s balance sheet. Do those who think cryptocurrency is a fad really believe it would have the attention of such serious individuals and companies if it weren’t an innovative idea?

With all that said, cryptocurrency and online gaming haven’t quite hit the sort of hysteria and heights they did during the 2021 bull run. Has the industry plateaued or is it gearing up for another leg up? Let’s take a look.

Cryptocurrency casinos and blockchain gaming

When we weigh the pros and cons of online gaming and cryptocurrency, online gaming has been able to establish itself easily. It’s a product people understand and can use. Combined with other beneficial factors that have emerged within the same timeline, ranging from mobile apps to high-speed internet and better latency when hosting games, it’s no surprise that it quickly became a multibillion-dollar behemoth. 

It’s also not surprising that the cryptocurrency industry is looking so hard at gaming as a potential means to branch out and attract new users. Casinos have explored the option of offering a crypto payment system as one of the few genuine innovations in online casino gaming over the last few years. 

While cryptocurrency casinos might have started as a small idea involving the most prominent digital assets, many altcoins can now be used to play traditional casino games. This includes Litecoin – askgamblers.com/online-casinos/crypto/litecoin provides rankings of participating casinos, by industry experts. Crypto casinos are still in the shadows of traditional providers and make up a small percentage of the wider iGaming world, but they haven’t had 30 years to find their footing like traditional online casinos have.

Cryptocurrency casinos are not the only crossover idea that has gained some traction. Several blockchain games utilize the security and cryptography of the blockchain for a range of in-game purchases, whether it’s NFTs used to validate in-game purchases and ownership, or buying and trading items with cryptocurrency that, again, is validated on the blockchain.

Exploring a mutual interest

Without boiling it down to the most basic form, online gaming and crypto will continue to be a constant within both industries as long as cryptocurrency markets generate trillions of dollars of price action. 

BlackRock’s continued march into the world of Bitcoin is perhaps the strongest indicator that online gaming companies and crypto will continue exploring potential collaborations, and that the idea of online gaming and crypto is a combination of innovative tech that is here to stay. 

As one of the most recognizable financial institutions on Earth, their continued investment in Bitcoin has done wonders for the industry’s legitimacy, which can often be the subject of misleading headlines and agenda-driven rhetoric in the public eye. 

Executives at BlackRock have stated that adoption is occurring slowly, which also happened in the early days of the internet and AI. Now, we’re not comparing these industries with it just yet, but given that gaming is the most obvious use case to explore for mass adoption, it does feel like the industry has legs. 

Still, it needs a landmark title to break through that barrier and appeal to the masses. If a big gaming company is able to effectively implement blockchain or cryptocurrency payments into one of its titles, this could be the ticket that helps propel both industries forward.

Conclusion

While there is a crossover mutual interest, there’s also the argument that both industries are doing perfectly well as their own standalone industries. One does not need the other to survive, and neither needs the other to grow, so while it might be an intriguing fusion of ideas for now, there’s no pressing desire for either industry to get too heavily involved with the other. 

That’s not to say the industry is losing interest or is investing less. However, as other prominent areas of the tech world present crossover opportunities, the tech world is an embarrassment of riches. Until there’s significant movement and a universally popular online gaming title, companies will continue to announce implementing blockchain technology or allowing in-game crypto purchases. This plateau will likely continue – it’s not a loss of interest, as companies are still investing and discussing it, and the current predictions and analysts for prominent altcoins like Ethereum show that there will continue to be a market for online gaming to explore.

The cryptocurrency casino sector will be the main industry flying the flag. As long as it is propped up by continued interest from the broader model of people who trade and invest in cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency casinos will continue to permeate further into the industry. It won’t lose relevance, and it’s hard to see how online gaming companies will lose interest as long as it remains in the public sphere.