Because the pandemic has kept most land-based casinos closed for a while now, players have turned to their online counterparts. This year, the gaming market is projected to be worth $230.86 billion.
Before the lockdown, 40 million people played poker regularly, but with the surge of online gaming, past reports have shown that this number increased by 43% during the pandemic. While this statistic is good for the industry and even brings in record-high revenue streams, online casino games, especially poker, are not yet fully legalized across the nation. While there are no federal laws that explicitly ban online poker, some state laws do.
Laws preventing online poker operations
In 1961, the Interstate Wire Act was passed, with a statute that limits taking bets across state lines, which later on was seen as rightfully applied to online gaming. But in 2011, the Department of Justice ruled that the act only applies to sports betting and that states can decide whether to allow online gaming or not. As of this writing, only the states of New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and Delaware offer legal online poker. While residents of other states can still play poker online, they face more challenges and risks as the sites aren’t licensed and regulated locally.
Why crypto can solve this problem
Because only a handful of states have permitted the game, the debate on whether or not it can be done across the country still stands. But some analysts are looking to crypto as poker legalization’s missing piece. That is primarily because cryptocurrency can be an easier way to fund online poker accounts, as observed by the continuous rise of crypto trading. Since digital currency can just be acquired online through exchanges or authorized apps, banks are not involved in these transactions. Thus, crypto provides a nice workaround to the Interstate Wire Act. Technically, because of the currency’s decentralized nature, transactions within and even outside the US can still be processed outside of traditional banking systems, and can, therefore, be legally processed.
Moreover, because the value of crypto, especially Bitcoin, is increasing, more and more casual customers and even known financial institutions are embracing the currency. In fact, in 2021, Bitcoin was valued at $34,843, with its combined worth amounting to 1.7% of the world’s money. As a result, there is a surge of investors, and the stability that comes with Bitcoin also impacts how crypto is generally accepted. Crypto is now seen by many not just as a legitimate investment, but also as even more reliable than the stock market.
The bottom line
If this wide acceptance of cryptocurrency translates into more players using it for their accounts, there is a chance that politicians, particularly those who opposed online poker, might re-evaluate their stand and be swayed towards supporting crypto and online gaming. It may be a long and tedious journey to persuade the entire country to legalize online poker, but starting small within individual states can make a big difference. As a matter of fact, among the states enumerated earlier, Michigan joined the list most recently in December 2019. So, who can say which state will go next?
Of course, there are no guarantees, but given how crypto is slowly taking over financial institutions, maybe the online gaming industry can accommodate that change, too. After all, a country that is home to some of the biggest poker events should set its sights on supporting a thriving online poker community, and the disruptive power of cryptocurrencies might just be the key to doing that.
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