IGT are one of the giants of the gambling world, both on and off-line. The American company’s new patents have raised the spectre of more crypto gambling in the near future – first in casinos, and perhaps in future online.
The patents apply to phone apps that would allow gamblers to pay for wagers with a phone tap that carries bitcoin, bitcoin cash, or ether. The patents were filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office and released to the public on January 26th, 2021.
IGT, or International Game Technology PLC, built slot games both off and online and also provide a load of other systems and tech for casinos and casino websites. They are giants of the slots world.
The bets would be funded from an account that holds bitcoins but which would then be converted into fiat currency for a small fee.
The patent filings show a mobile phone with an app that accepts deposits into a wallet and a bitcoin specialised slot. IGT are said to have set up but never used a bitcoin wallet as part of the plans.
The slot machine is currently the delivery method for these bets, but there’s nothing in the patents to stop the payments being made to bet on any legitimate and legal wager. IGT themselves operate slots, lotteries and sports betting sites.
So far this innovation is based in the real world. IGT have their HQ in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest gambling city, and the company announced that the State of Nevada’s Gaming Control Board (the legendary regulators who run Las Vegas’ gambling rules) have given approval for cashless payments at casinos. This approval talks about phone wagering without specifying crypto payments.
Cryptocurrencies are already used in the gambling world. There are specialist casino sites set up to use currencies like bitcoin and more and more online payment processors, for example, PayPal, accept crypto payments and convert them into fiat currencies (all standard government-issued money is what is called a fiat currency).
Bitcoin – and its many offspring in the crypto world – is money designed specifically for the online age. It is secure and can be very anonymous. There are challenges with tracing bitcoins and other crypto transactions in the gambling world, where licensing rules include strict regulations to stop money laundering taking place through casino sites.
Bitcoin is fast and anonymous, but it is also less stable than fiat currencies. They can be traded and go up and down in value, but they are tagged to more “real world” values (including the actions of governments) whereas bitcoin is less anchored and more liable to sudden rises and falls in values – the biggest news stories about cryptocurrencies have thus far been about large amounts of money won or lost via the currency’s swings.
However, if you play at licensed, legitimate sites and take the elementary precautions needed to keep your cryptocurrency safe too then you should be able to gamble just as safely with bitcoins as you can with pounds, euros or dollars. The arrival of IGT, a recognised giant of the industry, in the market sector, is only further validation of the mainstreaming of crypto.
