SOFTSWISS, with its impressive Casino Platform and Game Aggregator, is perfectly positioned to assess iGaming trends and offer an indicative breakdown of recent and future developments.
In its latest overview of cryptocurrency trends in iGaming in the first six months of 2022, SOFTSWISS offered a vision of a bright future, shedding light on the most critical year-over-year figures.
Total Bets Reveal a Steady Market Growth
Using total bet count to determine market growth, SOFTSWISS revealed that the total bets in the first six months of 2022 jumped by 46.4% year-on-year, indicating a steady interest in iGaming, despite recent downturns. Also, in the two years since 2020, the figure increased by nearly 247%.
Meanwhile, the Gross gaming revenue (GGR), which shows the difference between the sum of money players bet minus the sum they win, revealed a 45.5% increase compared to the same period in 2021. However, the same indicator surged 129.6% in the same period last year.
Although GGR is not strictly considered a growth indicator, it contributes to evaluating growth in the number of clients, betting volumes, and successful operations.
Crypto vs Fiat: A Tie
According to SOFTSWISS analysed data, crypto has no intention of backing down. In the first half of 2022, the rate of total bets made in cryptos increased by 5.1 p.p., holding 34.8% of the total share of bets; fiat bets experienced a similar increase of 5.2% year-over-year.
At the same time, when comparing Q1 2022 to Q2 2022, crypto has lost 2.4 p.p. in its share of bets made in fiat currencies. According to SOFTSWISS, the explanation for this can be sought in the notion that players still bet the same, but since the denominations of their in-game coins had dropped in value, the overall bet sum in crypto also decreased.
"This slight decline during the second quarter should not affect the overall trend towards an increase in the share of cryptocurrencies in the total volume of bets," said Vitali Matsukevich, COO at SOFTSWISS.
"The interests of this [crypto] audience now largely influence the growth of the whole industry. Operators that meet the needs of this community gain a competitive advantage and become market leaders," Matsukevich pointed out.
Bitcoin and the Co.
SOFTSSIWSS unsurprisingly found that Bitcoin remained the most popular digital currency in the iGaming industry in H1 2022, with a massive share of 71,2%. Meanwhile, Etherium shows an apparent trend in growth, with a 7 p.p. rise during H1 2022, holding almost 15% of the share.
Here's the share of the top five cryptos:
- Bitcoin (BTC) - 71.2%
- Ethereum (ETC) - 14.7%
- Litecoin (LTH) - 6.15%
- Dogecoin (DOGE) - 2.9%
- Tether (USDT) - 3.2%
What's Next for Cryptos?
Despite a slight decline in crypto bets in the second quarter of 2022, the big picture indicates that cryptocurrencies are "still penetrating deeper" into various forms of entertainment, including the iGaming industry.
"Stricter regulation of crypto operations, of course, will have an impact on the development speed of this business area. However, the huge potential of crypto projects and, accordingly, interest from leading industry representatives will play a decisive role, Matsukevich stressed.
"We will see further growth in this niche combined with a new non-standard approach to the gamification of the playing process with novelties such as NFT and tokens," concluded Matsukevich.
