Many people associate blockchain with digital currencies. But did you know that this technology has more to offer than cryptocurrencies? And this not only applies to financial transactions but also to sports betting, an industry that has been on the up and up in the last decade. So. how does this technology work and why should punters be happy about its growth concerning sports betting?
Blockchain is best described as a distributed database such that its files are available on a chain of computers. That way, verifying the data only takes place when all the computers on the network consent to this, making it quite hard for anyone to interfere with the data. Add the fact that the data-containing blocks do not contain people’s names and there lies a major sports betting perk – privacy! That means that if you take up bonuses such as this Betfair welcome offer, you can sign up and start playing without divulging your data – how great is that! We look at how blockchain technology has impacted sports betting for good:
1. It Instills Confidence in the Fairness of the Bookies
Have you ever wondered if bookies sometimes get away with altering the wagers? For a long time, gambling has been marred with controversy regarding the fairness of the games. Blockchain technology puts these concerns to rest by offering a transparent overview of how bookies operate. Punters can place wagers knowing that their fate lies in the hands of the players on the field, and not in those of the bookies. And with such trust, more people are willing to put money on the line.
2. It Streamlines Payments
Not many people are comfortable with using their bank or card details when making payments online. Some of these payments can also land people in financial trouble when their banks realize that they have been using their money to place wagers. Blockchain offers the solution of digital currencies which have the following perks:
- The transactions are fast,
- The transactions are secure,
- The transactions incur minimal to no charges, and
- The transactions are largely anonymous.
More bookies are now open to accepting crypto as a form of payment. And this move has widened their market as more people are now willing to play, knowing that their transactions can remain private.
3. It is Secure
Sports betting is all about investing money in the hope of making money. And this involves a lot of back and forth between the punters and the bookies. Bookies must process many wagers and punters trust them to do this in a sort of vacuum. And punters trust that bookies will not alter the odds in the middle of an event.
Can blockchain help bookies and punters trust each other more? Sure! Changing the data on blocks is quite hard. Say, for example, that you place a wager with a bookie, and you get high odds. Then the bookie realizes that you will win a lot of money if the bet goes through, and they try to change the odds. Given that the data exists in blocks, the bookie would have to edit the previous and current blocks. And these effects would spill into the new block, necessitating even more changes.
The work taken to cover up such a change would be so much that they would just let you win. And that would be to your benefit because you would avoid getting scammed.
While the recent cryptocurrency crash may have scared off some people, it had nothing to do with blockchain technology but more to do with economic affairs. There are so many ways blockchain technology can impact our lives for the better and its use in sports betting is but a start. It might be a bit of a learning curve, but the results speak for themselves – this technology is a winner!
