The United Kingdom has long been one of the leading markets in the emerging online gambling industry and has set the example for many other countries around the world on how to implement regulation and legislation successfully. With the year drawing to a close, the UK is expected to report somewhere in the region of £10.79 billion (€12.65bn, $13.78bn) in revenue for 2024 and this figure is only projected to get greater in the coming years.
However, despite posting impressive numbers over recent years, there is one avenue of finance that is beginning to infiltrate online casinos in markets around the world that the UK remains reluctant to explore. While online casinos have only enjoyed an explosion in popularity in the past few years, cryptocurrency has been traded for over a decade, since the inception of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, in 2009.
More cryptocurrencies followed and all of a sudden, cryptos started to come to the attention of millions, whether it was investigated out of pure intrigue, for investment purposes, or to actually purchase items. While those premises are still driving the popularity of cryptocurrencies, the wider use is bringing cryptos such as Bitcoin Ethereum, Litecoin, Binance, and Dogecoin into the public eye. And being the digital entity it is, it is only natural that cryptocurrencies would find synergy with other digitally powered phenomenon. Which brings us right back to the topic at hand.
UKGC retain strict crypto casino stance
While cryptocurrencies have been accepted by other regulatory bodies and legislation writers for online casino industries around the world, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is still reluctant to allow these digital currencies to finance online gambling in the UK. It must also be noted that the trading of cryptocurrency is permitted in the UK, which makes the reluctance to implement cryptocurrencies on UKGC-licensed online gambling platforms more baffling.
People before profit
If the UKGC had to be labelled in one word, it would be consistent. As we highlighted, the UK is one of the most lucrative online gambling markets in the world, and this has been achieved by retaining a strict stance that has consistently prioritized the wellbeing of its domestic citizens over any profitable gain for the UK economy. It can be argued that this is possible because the UK has such a traditional gambling culture, including sports betting, but the main reason why the UKGC refuses to buckle to cryptocurrency demand is purely down to its will to prevent any harm.
Crypto still too volatile
While cryptocurrencies are gaining a greater presence in society and are achieving wider uses in everyday life, the fact cryptocurrencies are volatile is still a distinct reality. Due to the unstable nature of cryptocurrencies, online gambling regulators in the UK consider the financing of gambling through cryptocurrency as too big a risk, and one that would potentially cause more financial or personal harm than good.
Despite the UKGC’s resistance to “crypto casinos,” the body has not felt the need to implement a ban on UK players accessing crypto casinos in other markets. Online casinos like those at dailystar-uk.co.uk offer the potential to finance online casino play with cryptocurrencies, which leaves the idea of play on crypto casinos in the UK in a grey area. The UKGC are not willing to permit and license online casinos to offer the option, but also do not fully reject the idea of UK players playing on such platforms.
Change on crypto stance in the future?
While crypto casinos are positioning themselves to be the future of online gambling, there is no sign of the UKGC backing down on their strict stance on the digital currency appearing on its platforms. However, the continued rise of cryptocurrency might prompt a rethink, or at least a tinkering of the regulations. Cryptos will first have to become more stable before the UKGC considers a rethink, but with the digital world developing at a rate of knots, and with cryptocurrency and online gambling as two of its favorite pupils, who knows what the future holds for crypto casinos in the UK.
