How to Start a Crypto Casino: Everything You Need to Know
With the increasing popularity of digital currencies, crypto-powered gambling has become a popular way to gamble online.
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to start a gambling business, then starting an online crypto casino could be a lucrative option.
How lucrative?
According to Financial Times, Stake.com generated almost $2.6 billion in 2022
Crypto casinos are no longer a risky concept with an untested audience, as was the case in 2013.
Today, a 100% crypto casino is on TOP -10 of the largest gambling companies in the world.
In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of crypto casinos.
We will share the differences between traditional online casinos and blockchain/crypto casinos.
You’ll also learn what it takes to start an online crypto casino, marketing strategies, costs, and cost allocation.
Advantages of Online Crypto Casinos
Increased Security and Anonymity
Using digital currencies in online gambling can provide players with increased security and anonymity.
Digital currencies eliminate the need for intermediaries like banks or payment processors.
This can help protect players’ personal information and also prevent fraud.
Many gamblers do not want their bank (or family members) to know that they play online casino games. They value cryptocurrencies over anything else because of their privacy and anonymity.
They can safely buy some crypto, fund their account and play.
Faster Transaction Times
Many digital currencies are designed for fast and efficient transactions, allowing players to deposit and withdraw funds faster than with traditional payment methods.
There are several reasons for this:
- Traditional methods may include manual verification processes. Keep people waiting and you’ll have lots of depositors but hardly anyone placing bets. Not the best way to start relationships.
- On gambling sites that also allow traditional payment methods, you usually have to pass a KYC check. With crypto, players can play immediately after they load their money.
- In many countries, it’s still a hassle to top up a balance with fiat payment methods. For players in the Middle East, some Latin American countries, or China, this isn’t always easy.
Greater Accessibility
For regular fiat money casinos, it’s necessary to create cash registers for each jurisdiction they want to focus on.
The payment methods for players in Taiwan and the payment methods for players in Colombia will be different. This requires additional resources to integrate the payment system providers and limits the geographical reach.
Digital currencies are accepted globally, making them more accessible to players from different countries.
Players don’t have to worry about the methods to use and can join with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stable Coins, or other popular currencies.
Fees are lower
Crypto payment system providers are much cheaper. For deposits in crypto you can get a fee of 0.8% and less! For FIAT the fee depends on the market and can be up to 9% and more.
The Power of Blockchain Casinos is in Building Trust
Not everything that enables cryptocurrency transactions is trustworthy. The crypto casino is the same traditional casino, just with a different “ATM” and a unique marketing strategy.
The blockchain casino requires a decentralized platform that operates on a blockchain network.
This is a completely different business mindset that gives away information about all business events:
- Every deposit, withdrawal, and money transfer that players make is recorded on the blockchain. These transactions include details such as the sender’s wallet address, the recipient’s wallet address, the amount transferred, and a timestamp.
- The results of any game played in a blockchain casino can be recorded in the blockchain. Details such as the game ID, player actions, game rules and the final result.
- When players win a bet or receive a payout, the details of these transactions can be recorded in the blockchain. These include the amount won, the player’s wallet address, and a timestamp.
By recording game results on the blockchain, players and external auditors can verify the fairness and integrity of games and ensure that results aren’t manipulated or altered.
Developing a true blockchain casino requires some significant investment. It’s also difficult to justify such an investment because there is no evidence that players will prefer blockchain over traditional casinos.
If you want to see an example of a blockchain casino, check out – Edgeless.
Disadvantages of Online Crypto Casinos
Lack of Mainstream Recognition and Coverage
Digital currencies are still relatively new and not yet widely accepted by the mainstream public. This can limit the potential audience for crypto casinos.
In other words, your market and marketing strategies are limited to the crypto online gambling community.
If you decide to market it to a broad audience then you will get tons of registrations, but no depositors. People who will make it to the payments page will leave, because they never used any cryptocurrency.
Traditional casinos have more flexibility. They can accept traffic from affiliates without any excessive filtration because it will convert.
In 2023, there are over 2.56 billion active online shoppers and only 300 million people using crypto.
Potential for Volatility in Cryptocurrency Prices.
The prices of cryptocurrencies can be very volatile, which means that the value of a player’s winnings can fluctuate greatly depending on market conditions.
In November 2021, when the crypto market crashed, the bitcoin price dropped from EUR 56,278 to EUR 26,747 and then to EUR 15,409
That’s a 70% drop in value!
Bitcoin millionaires were wiped out. A person with twenty Bitcoins was no longer a millionaire.
This also affected crypto casinos. Imagine you spend 70% of your business expenses on marketing. You pay 100 EUR for each new depositor.
The day the cryptocurrency crashed, the valuation of most crypto casinos crashed as well and they had to figure out how to survive because they couldn’t afford the same expenses anymore.
Differences Between Traditional Online Casinos, Blockchain, and Crypto Casinos
Overview of Traditional Online Casinos
These are websites that offer different types of casino games that usually involve real money. They use payment methods such as credit cards and bank transfers to make deposits and withdrawals.
Explanation of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is a decentralized ledger that records transactions in a secure and transparent manner. This technology is the backbone of many digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
Overview of Crypto Online Casinos
Crypto online casinos specifically accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. These casinos can be built on blockchain infrastructure, but they don’t have to be.
How to Start a Crypto Casino: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you’re interested in starting a crypto casino, here are some things you’ll need to consider:
The Importance of Market Research
Market research is crucial to the success of any gambling business. You’ll need to research the competition, target audience, and legal regulations in your jurisdiction.
Do your Market Research
Get this step right if you want to discover your true competitors. Use this knowledge to find out what works for them and reverse engineer successful strategies. Once you know what works well, you can reach for the low-hanging fruit and adopt similar strategies for your own brand.
By understanding the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of their audience, you can tailor your marketing campaigns to attract those specific groups. This can expand your customer base and drive growth.
Decide how you want to position yourself
Only by understanding your competitors can you find gaps to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. What are their unique selling points? What target audience are they selling to? Is it for pure entertainment or do they think they can beat the casino? Use this knowledge and emphasize your differences to stand out in the market.
Learn from mistakes
By understanding the pitfalls and missteps of your competitors, you can avoid making similar mistakes. This will save you time, resources, and costly marketing errors.
Choosing a License and Regulatory Compliance
Choosing the right license for your crypto casino is crucial to ensure that you are operating within legal regulations. Most successful crypto casinos acquire the Curacao Gambling license.
Here is a list of 13 different crypto casinos:
- https://bcgame.top
- https://metaspins.com
- https://www.jackbit.com
- https://wild.io
- https://flush.com
- https://vave.com
- https://www.cloudbet.com
- https://www.luckyblock.com
- https://blizz.io
- https://www.bets1.io
- https://coinzino.io
- https://justbit.io
- https://www.cryptoloko.com
Choosing a Platform
You’ll need to choose a platform that is reliable and secure for your crypto casino. There are several popular platforms that cater specifically to online casinos. You can download an Ultimate List of Turnkey and Whitelabel Platforms right here.
Three critical elements of a good platform – price, features, and customer support. Check this post to learn How To Choose The Right Online Casino Platform.
The platform gives you detailed insights into every player who signs up at your casino.
You have the ability to access detailed customer data, analyze their behavior, and take action against suspicious activity. It also displays key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive your business, including revenue, payouts, and total winnings.
It combines intuitive dashboards, player management, marketing campaigns, bonus systems, risk management and fraud control, payment options, and customer support into a holistic and powerful toolset.
Choosing the right platform is a crucial step in starting your Bitcoin casino. If you make a mistake here, it can cost you a lot of money later to change it.
Designing a User-Friendly Website
The design of your website should be user-friendly and easy to navigate, with a clear layout that allows players to easily find the games they want to play. The design should also be responsive so that you have a seamless experience on different devices.
Here’s the point…
Most platforms already have pre-made design templates that you can use for your casino. You just need to change the elements of your branding.
You should weigh this option on a case-by-case basis. It’s not a bad idea to save some money when you’re just starting out, but it’s necessary to confirm that the design already works.
Ask your potential iGaming platform partner to show you at least one successful project that used this template.
If you are serious about building your brand though then design should be a no-brainer. Choosing the right team is critical in making it work. Make sure that they have several successful projects behind their belt.
Choosing Games
You need to choose the right games for your crypto casino. The most popular games include slots, blackjack, roulette, and live dealer games. It’s important that you offer a diverse selection of games to suit the different preferences of players.
Again, you should research and find out what offer works for your competitors in the same market. Your offering in Brazil will be different from your offering in Japan.
Most iGaming platforms also offer aggregation services with dozens of different software providers.
The trick is to choose the most popular providers.
In different countries, people prefer different games and since Bitcoin casinos focus on the niche itself, you have a choice:
- Restrict people from certain countries and tailor the offer to your target audience
- Or you can choose an iGaming platform that knows how to customize a list of games for different markets. That way, people from different countries see the games they’re most likely to want to play.
Check this post to learn How to choose the right aggregator for your online casino in this post.
Integrating Payment Methods
Payment method integration is crucial for your crypto casino. You need to allow your players to deposit and withdraw money with cryptocurrencies.
All you need is a single payment system provider and you’re good to go.
CoinsPaid is a leading crypto payment service provider for the iGaming industry. There are a few other solutions worth checking such as BVNK bank and CoinPayments.
The main things you should check out:
- Fees. Transaction fees and setup fees.
- Credibility. They have to be trustworthy and have a perfect track record.
- Compliance. Some payment system providers make it too complicated to work with them.
Hiring a Team
If you are considering building a team for your crypto casino operation, here are key positions to consider:
1. Project Manager: A project manager plays a crucial role in streamlining your crypto casino operation. This person should have expertise across various business aspects like product, marketing, risk management, and customer support.
2. SEO Marketing Expert: Building a brand requires a long-term approach, and an SEO marketing expert becomes instrumental in achieving that. Though it requires a significant investment of resources initially, the payoff is a well-oiled customer acquisition machine.
3. Affiliate Manager: The role of an affiliate manager is in cultivating strong relationships with affiliates. They have to ensure that affiliates are satisfied with the partnership and remain motivated to promote your crypto casino. Building a strong network of affiliates can significantly boost your brand’s visibility and customer reach.
4. CRM Expert: A CRM expert brings valuable expertise in implementing effective customer retention strategies. By nurturing customer relationships and enhancing their overall experience, they contribute to long-term success and customer satisfaction.
Marketing Your Crypto Casino
Marketing is crucial for the success of your crypto casino. You’ll need to use social media, search engine optimization, and other marketing strategies to attract players and build a strong brand.
Cost of Starting a Crypto Casino
The cost of starting a crypto casino can vary, depending on factors such as the platform you choose, the number of games you offer, and the team you hire.
On average, the cost ranges from EUR 50,000 to EUR 300,000.
The gaming platform makes the biggest difference. You can choose a platform for EUR 20,000 or EUR 200,000. As we mentioned earlier, the platform is one of the most important elements when setting up your bitcoin casino. The other two are – the license and the payment system provider.
Conclusion
Starting an online crypto casino can be a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs.
With over 300 million active crypto users worldwide, crypto casinos offer many advantages that traditional online casinos cannot – higher security, faster transactions, cheaper payment methods and better accessibility.
In this article, we’ve discussed everything you need to start an online crypto casino business:
Every successful online casino starts with a gambling license. It’s common in the industry to start with Curacao’s gambling license and after some success, look for ways to move into a more regulated area.
You need a good platform that will serve as the backbone of your business. You can download an ultimate list of online gambling platforms from the link above.
It’s important that you have games that are popular in your market. Make sure you offer casino table games, live dealer games, and crash games that people like to play.
For crypto-based gambling, you need a good payment system provider. We recommend Coinspaid, the industry leader. Contact us if you want to explore other solutions.
Build a team. Casino owners can’t do everything on their own! There are four key people we recommend to start a crypto casino – you need a project manager, an SEO expert, an affiliate manager, and an account manager.
If you’re building a brand, good design is important!
Any good, solid gambling platform will provide you with templates to choose from, which can be enough to get you started.
