Australia bracing itself for a Bitcoin casino boom

The popularity of crypto casinos in the USA has risen dramatically over the past three years or so. This trend is rapidly spreading to other parts of the globe. Australia looks set to be the next nation to truly embrace crypto gambling, as the industry faces very similar regulatory constraints.

Australia's gambling landscape

Australians spend more money per capita on gambling than any other nation. Around 50 percent of money wagered is on slot machines, or pokies as they are known in Australia. A combination of increased regulation and the events of 2020 have sent Australians to cyberspace in their droves, in search of the best online pokies for real money from Australia online pokies providers.

Australia’s gambling industry is regulated by the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and online casinos are prohibited under the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. This is conceptually similar to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the USA in as much as it prohibits gambling businesses from operating online casinos within its jurisdiction.

Both Acts stop short of prohibiting players from using online casinos, so the inevitable consequence is that they simply visit sites that are based overseas. The result is that dozens of offshore casinos actively market their services to Australian customers. The ACMA takes a dim view of this, and has issued blocking orders to internet providers against more than 350 casino sites. But this has little effect, as new ones come up to replace them all the time.

The rise of crypto

US rules restrict conventional bank transfers to or from offshore gambling sites, and this has been an instrumental factor in the rise of crypto casinos. Australia is also mooting the possibility of similar restrictions and banks are already restricting the types of payments they are prepared to make. For example, most have blocked the use of credit cards for gambling and some are introducing similar measures for debit cards. This would leave customers with bank wire transfers as the only option, a transaction method that is slow and that can incur extra costs.

Little wonder, then, that making crypto payments is looking like an increasingly attractive option for Australian gamblers. However, the benefits run deeper than presenting a neat way around increasingly stringent regulations.

Inherent benefits of Bitcoin casinos

Transferring funds into a gambling account to place bets and transferring them out again if you get lucky and win some money have always been pain points ever since the first online casino opened its virtual doors. Technological constraints and risk management rules such as AML checks mean delay is inevitable, and that can cast a shadow over the entire experience. After all, if you get a big win, you want to withdraw it and celebrate then and there, not two days later.

Bitcoin is the best solution yet to this problem. Transactions are practically instantaneous, they are frictionless and they usually incur no fees. Crypto also offers levels of security that cannot be matched by other transaction methods. Make no mistake, the crypto casino age is about to hit Australia hard, and when it arrives, it will stay for good.