According to an igaming expert, Keane Ecclestone, crypto casinos are increasingly popular with bettors that value their privacy and security. While some perceive crypto casinos to be riskier than traditional online gambling platforms, Ecclestone believes bettors can play safely by choosing casinos that avail their licensing information. Bettors can also minimize risks by choosing crypto casinos that have several positive reviews, Ecclestone added.
Crypto Casinos vs Traditional Online Gambling Sites
Crypto casinos, just like many other services or innovative products that came to life courtesy of the growing use of cryptocurrencies, have seen the number of people using them grow. There are several reasons why bettors are flocking to online gambling sites and many of these reasons have to do with the shortcomings of traditional casinos.
Despite having clear advantages, crypto casinos do have their shortcomings which potentially increase risks for users. The perception that online crypto casinos are riskier is compounded by the fact that many of them are not regulated, or operate in jurisdictions where no such regulations exist.
To overcome some of these shortcomings, Keane Ecclestone, an igaming and crypto copywriter, recently co-founded an online platform, Casinos Cryptos, which ranks crypto casinos based on factors like the licensing information. According to Ecclestone, by providing this service, his platform plays its part in helping users avoid scam casinos.
Besides explaining to Bitcoin.com News how his organization rates crypto casinos, Ecclestone also gave his thoughts about this new industry and what must be done to improve user safety. Below are Ecclestone’s responses to questions sent to him via Linkedin.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Crypto casinos appear to be growing in popularity. In your view, what could be the factors behind this?
Keane Ecclestone (KE): We believe the main reasons behind the rising popularity are threefold — privacy, security & growing interest in the crypto market. Players prefer having greater anonymity, along with a large number of people owning crypto — thus driving demand.
BCN: Despite their surge in popularity, crypto casinos, however, are seen or perceived to be riskier than other online casinos. Do you agree that crypto casinos are riskier?
KE: Not necessarily, so long as players are cautious about the casinos they use — depositing/withdrawing with cryptocurrency in fact can be safer as you’re not entering card information on a (potentially) malicious traditional casino site.
BCN: What made you decide to start a platform that rates crypto gambling sites and what sort of impact do you expect this to have on this industry?
KE: Linking back to the previous question, there are definitely some casino sites players should steer clear of. We made it our mission with the review platform to provide customers with unbiased, detailed information about each crypto casino so that they can stay safe and find the best site for their personal requirements.
BCN: Based on your experience, what would you say are the signs or attributes of a good or a legitimate crypto casino?
KE: A legit crypto casino typically provides licensing information (usually Curacao or Malta) and has plenty of positive reviews. Another way to be sure is longevity — if it’s been around for a while, it’s likely to be legit. Or players can visit casinoscrypto.com where we’ve done the hard work for them.
BCN: Anonymous gambling is one of the reasons why crypto casinos are gaining in popularity. What do you think are the benefits as well as the risks that come with this non-KYC type of gambling?
KE: Some would see providing personal information as an invasion of privacy and would like the right to be able to gamble on products they choose, when they choose, from a place they choose. Of course, this brings greater risk from a compliance standpoint, but many of the casinos have implemented systems to detect suspicious behavior and only KYC those they believe to be of malicious intent.
BCN: Now let’s talk about regulation. As you may be aware, many gambling sites are regulated and the reason often is to protect players against certain practices. For example, it is known that some casinos use dishonest techniques such as deploying a rigged roulette. If a regulated casino operator engaged in this practice is caught, their license gets revoked. Now, since crypto casinos are largely unregulated, if an operator were to cheat, what happens to this operator? Is there a body or organization where players can report this?
KE: Great question. One of the many benefits of blockchain is that a lot of these crypto casinos are provably fair — meaning it would be impossible to rig since the game is hosted on a blockchain for all to see. Granted, this isn’t every site, but the majority implement fair practices or use big game providers so the risk in our opinion is minimal, and therefore the need for regulators is smaller than that of traditional online casinos.
BCN: The industry is growing but there is still room for improvement. In your view, what else needs to be done to ensure crypto casinos are safer?
KE: There’s always room for improvement. To ensure greater safety, I would recommend crypto casinos provide secure cold storage for players’ crypto as well as allow for instantaneous demand-side withdrawals like the majority of crypto exchanges. This helps players know they’re always in control of their money.
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