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World – Gambling-focused cryptocurrencies valued at more than $100m

By Phil - 21 March 2019

Cryptocurrencies dedicated exclusively to gambling have a combined market capitalisation of more than $100m, according to research from CryptoGamblingNews.com.

While the cryptocurrency market has suffered a tough 12 months, investors are still backing gambling coins to the tune of nine figures.

The top 10 gambling-focused cryptocurrencies currently hold a combined value on trading exchanges of $86.7m. With dozens of other gambling coins also being traded, the total sector is worth over $100m.

The leading crypto gambling project by market capitalisation of its cryptocurrency is currently FunFair Technologies, a B2B blockchain gaming platform launched by Jez San OBE. Its coins are currently valued at $29m, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com.

FunFair is followed by decentralised sportsbook platform Wagerr ($15.1m) and decentralised casino platform Edgeless ($12.5m).

The cryptocurrencies are actively traded on a number of exchanges, including the world’s largest exchange, Malta-based Binance. FunFair’s FUN token reported trading volumes in excess of $8m over the past week alone.

Despite the impressive figures, the values are significantly down on the January 2018 highs, when gambling cryptocurrencies held a combined value in excess of $1.5bn.

A spokesperson for CryptoGamblingNews.com, the leading portal for news from the crypto gambling sector, said there are early signs of a recovery.

“The 2018 peak was fuelled by speculation, but what we are seeing now is the emergence of a handful of platforms that are finally live and accepting wagers in these cryptocurrencies. The prices have reacted accordingly as demand for the coins increases,” the spokesperson said.

“Gambling remains a key early use case for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. We are seeing these projects implementing some fantastic features that are simply not possible with fiat currencies, such as provably fair games, full decentralisation and near-instantaneous withdrawals.”

Gambling-focused cryptocurrencies are distinct from the broader crypto gambling sector, where Bitcoin remains dominant.
By some estimates, around half of all Bitcoin transactions are gambling related, with billions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin gambled each year.

However, while Bitcoin operates simply as an alternative payment method, projects such as FunFair, Wagerr and Edgeless have built entire platforms upon blockchain technology.