The online gambling industry began in the mid-1990s. However, it was in the mid-2000s that no verification casinos began to be seen as a legitimate, regulated businesses with controls in place to protect players and casinos. Since the beginning of the industry, the value of this area has been continuously growing. It is now expected that by 2024, according to research by Statista.com, the gaming industry as a whole will be worth more than $94 billion.
The development of online casinos in the 1990s
So what was the start of gambling on the world wide web? In 1994, when the Internet was at one of its initial stages of development, the state of Barbuda and Antigua, located in the Caribbean, was the first to begin the process of regulating the gambling market on the Internet. Barbuda and Antigua issued licenses to companies that wanted to work not only traditionally in institutions but also on the Internet. Thus, a law was passed giving the right to carry out gambling activities on the Internet. It also allowed to process user data and generate offers for them.
In 1996, the online casino InterCasino was created, marking the official start of what would become one of the most successful forms of entertainment. The casino accepted its first real money wager last year and has since paid out over $3 billion in winnings. InterCasino has become a not only innovator in the field of online gambling but also in the field of software use.
In just a few years, the number of gambling sites has increased tenfold. By 1997, there were about 200 online casinos on the Internet. At the same time, several poker rooms opened, and Planet Poker introduced the first computerized version of Texas Hold ’em. This is how card games, typical for land-based casinos, began to appear in online casinos. Multiplayer games soon followed in 1999. At the same time, slots began to gain popularity, without which it is impossible to imagine any online casino.
How the industry expanded over the last years
Due to the “pandemic crisis,” many business segments showed a decline or slow growth, but this bypassed the gambling industry. Widespread lockdowns and the transition to a remote work system have forced the population to spend more time at home. Online gambling industry income went through the roof.
According to the German research company Statista, in 2020, the global online gambling industry was estimated at $66.7 billion. By 2023, this figure is predicted to reach 92.9 billion. If gambling companies plan to take advantage of such rapid growth and conquer new market segments, their products should certainly follow the emerging trends in the industry.
The improvement of mobile applications is an extremely important but often overlooked trend in the fortune clock casino industry. The quality of applications is in many ways a decisive factor for users when choosing gambling operators.
It is quite difficult to determine which trends are really in demand and will become an organic part of online gambling for a long time. A superficial acquaintance with the situation in the gambling business can lead to the idea that such innovations as VR and blockchain will be able to radically change the industry in the near future.
Cryptocurrencies implementation in Casinos
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin can really complement fiat money and even potentially replace it in the field of gambling. However, online operators should keep a few things in mind before offering customers to transact in cryptocurrencies.
The main advantage of cryptocurrencies is anonymity: crypto payments are impossible to trace (or at least very difficult), which makes them ideal for users who want to remain undetected on the network. While this represents a significant step toward better data protection, it does lead the gambling industry to potential problems. The Know Your Customer (KYC) obligation means that online casinos and bookmakers are required to collect certain customer information both to protect them and to prevent fraud. This requirement goes against the anonymity that cryptocurrencies provide.
Moreover, despite the fact that cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular, they have yet to become a truly mass phenomenon. Currently, it is not economically viable for online casinos and bookmakers to add cryptocurrency payment methods to their applications. This means that it is still too early for gambling operators to worry about how to solve the problem of anonymity inherent in cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion
Today, online casinos and bookmakers are the main part of online gambling. It is impossible to ignore the advantages that they have over traditional playgrounds. Online casino software has become even more progressive and in demand. Many companies now have adaptive functionality to work on any newly released smartphone or tablet. And it is in no way inferior to computer versions, making the game process more comfortable.
