At a time when crypto is becoming increasingly common in the world of online gambling, everything from casino deposits and blockchain-based games to NFTs and token-based reward systems are now being talked about online. One of the issues here is that if you are unfamiliar with crypto terms and don’t know what they mean, you won’t truly know what’s on offer. With this in mind, we’ve put together a simplified guide for gamers and online casino players.
Let’s dive into the details and get to know the crypto world from an online gambling point of view.
More casinos and betting platforms allow you to deposit and withdraw using the likes of BTC, ETH, and SOL, and that means understanding the fundamentals is really important. As with any new industry and branch of technology, there is a new set of jargon and terms, and it’s our job to introduce you to them. We’ll start by looking at how the crypto gambling space works.
The use of things like NFTs, in-game tokens, and provably fair algorithms means that you can now show that you own a digital item, which in turn provides it with an associated value, and prove that every event in a game happened fairly. In addition, the games that you can play are built on blockchain technology, which you can think of as a distributed record of every action and event that no one person has the power to edit. It’s the distributed nature of these records that makes this new type of online gambling safe and secure.
If you don’t know what terms like “wallet,” “private key,” and “RNG” mean, you won’t be able to judge whether the offer you’re seeing is fair, transparent, or simply too good to be true. By making sure that you’re up to speed with the fundamentals, we want to play our part in ensuring that you’re safe and looked after when gambling in new places online.
To keep this guide to crypto terminology as simple as we believe it should be, we’re going to limit our discussion to the fundamental terms. All of the complexities and nuances can wait for another day—this is about laying the groundwork in your understanding.
A wallet is a secure digital tool or physical device where you store your cryptocurrency access keys (think of them as ultra-secure passwords) that only you can access. Hot wallets are connected to the internet for ease of use; cold wallets are fully offline for enhanced security. You can make a deposit to a casino wallet from a cold wallet by simply typing in the casino’s wallet address and pressing Send.
A public key is used to generate your wallet address — the string others can send funds to. The public key itself is typically not shown, as wallet addresses are cryptographic hashes of it. The private key is what allows you to access and control your crypto. These two parts work together to keep your account secure while enabling transactions.
This is the technology behind provably fair gambling and transparent transactions. You can think of it as a distributed ledger that no one person can edit.
A coin is a type of cryptocurrency that runs on its own blockchain — examples include Bitcoin and Litecoin. A token is built on top of an existing blockchain, like Ethereum. Tokens often represent utility, access, or rewards within a specific project, such as an online casino platform.
This is an agreement that self-executes without human intervention. It can be used to automate payouts, bonuses, and transfer NFT ownership.
Transaction fees are paid to the network that powers the blockchain and can increase at times of higher demand and usage.
Crypto price swings are more frequent and larger than fiat price swings. This can affect casino balances in ways new users may not expect.
For crypto payments to be more than a marketing gimmick, they need to be able to offer those who are looking to explore iGaming something extra. Below you will find three key advantages that players of crypto casinos often cite as their reasons for switching from fiat payments.
The holy grail of real-money gambling has always been the ability to use your winnings however you wish the minute you bet comes in, and crypto casinos have the potential to make this possible. The way that cryptocurrencies are built and structured means that payouts can be made in a matter of seconds, allowing players to withdraw their winnings or use a portion of the payout to place another bet.
Crypto casinos allow players around the world to take part in online gambling without having to deal with the constraints of traditional banking. This means that information is less likely to be shared with third parties, and there are few restrictions on deposits, withdrawals, and geographic locations when it comes to playing casino games online.
Loyalty tokens, play-to-earn formats, and a new class of staking bonuses are all designed to reward loyal players. The idea is that the more you play (within the limits of safe, healthy, and sustainable gambling), the more the crypto casino will look to give back to you in the form of bettable bonuses. These bonuses will then be paid into your account in a specified cryptocurrency.
It’s interesting to consider the terminology we’re learning about in other fields. Let’s take a closer look to gain a greater perspective.
Odds can often be a little higher in the crypto gambling world because the house edge that is built into the odds is approximately half that used by traditional oddsmakers. Payouts are virtually instant and have little or no fees due to reduced overheads on the part of the operator.
Digital collectibles and blockchain-supported items like NFT skins mean that players of online sports can build a collection of in-game assets. Common examples are how gamers can own different characters and character costumes as a result of making purchases, winning prizes, or unlocking loyalty rewards.
A growing trend in competitive gambling tournaments is where players put funds into a digital pot that is governed by a smart electronic contract that governs when and how the prizes are distributed. This is a secure online equivalent of the house holding a pot during an in-person poker tournament, for example.
Gamers of all interests may also come across some other increasingly common terms, so we have included the most important of these below.
This is a broad term for the range of finance applications built using crypto technology, and it comes from the fact that crypto blockchains are decentralized and distributed across a wide network.
A marketplace is a platform you would use when trading things such as in-game items, tokens, and NFTs. A DEX (decentralized exchange) is a peer-to-peer platform where you would trade cryptocurrency directly with another user, free from an intermediary.
The metaverse refers to a broad collection of online virtual worlds and platforms, some of which include casino-style games or crypto-powered gambling. Others focus on social interaction, digital events, or virtual real estate. In cases where gambling is available, it’s typically powered by crypto economies and tied to digital ownership through NFTs or tokens.
Crypto terminology has quickly become essential knowledge for modern gamers and online gamblers who are looking to understand the new wave of offers that are out there. By understanding these terms and thinking a little about what they mean, you’re improving your personal safety online at the same time as improving your overall playing experience.
