• When the concept of buying and selling decentralized currencies first found its way to the hearts and minds of these nations, it was slow to take off.
• Gamers all over Africa enjoy them, and that includes the moderately successful South African Esports team, ATK.
In Kenya, South Africa and many other corners of the African continent, the word "crypto" becomes a little more well known every day. When the concept of buying and selling decentralized currencies first found its way to the hearts and minds of these nations, it was slow to take off. But it's everywhere now.
Anyone you know might be buying and using coins like Bitcoin to do all kinds of things online, including playing vibrant and amusing crypto slots in their spare time. If you're still on the fence about online gambling using crypto, you might be wondering if the trend will eventually pass. You've also stumbled upon the right article, because right now, we'll be answering that exact question. Are crypto slots simply a passing flavor of the month? Let's go over some facts to figure this out.
Slots have come a very long way
Before talking about crypto slots, it's worthwhile to first touch on online slots in general for a minute. If you haven't been keeping up to date with today's online casino gaming scene, you might be completely unaware that modern slot games are pretty amazing. They look almost nothing like those fruit-filled, three-reeled titles that sometimes show up in old Hollywood movies, although those classic options are still around.
Today's slot options are fun, immersive and visually beautiful to behold. They feel more like the world's most popular mobile games than old-timey casino fare. There's no wonder that they're so popular worldwide. The moment you sit down to play any one of the countless themed options around right now, you'll understand the international appeal right away.
Gamers all over Africa enjoy them, and that includes the moderately successful South African Esports team, ATK. According to Business Insider, this professional gaming team, and likely many others, frequently spend time on crypto platforms in Africa when not training for competitions.
What makes crypto slots so great, anyway?
Now you might be wondering if online slots are so great already on their own, where does crypto fit into all this? The connection lies in how you might prefer to pay to play these exciting modern entertainments. There are many reasons why crypto slots have positioned themselves so comfortably within the African online entertainment context.
First of all, paying for anything online through traditional banking means, and that includes access to fun modern online slots, can be tricky for many Africans. According to some reports, access to the kinds of financial services needed to participate at online casinos has been slow. This is changing now, but the situation has forced many to find alternatives like crypto.
Crypto has many other benefits
Paying for online casino access with crypto has other benefits. These pros are particularly exciting for younger generations who are more comfortable with the internet than their parents or grandparents. There's a lot of interesting and incredibly cutting edge tech powering crypto payments. For one thing, crypto transactions are handled over the blockchain. This way of passing digital money around means lower fees, more personal control and surprisingly quick transaction turnarounds.
The blockchain also provides a lot more security. Without going into too many stuffy details here, the way funds are moved around over the blockchain means that it's almost impossible for potential hackers or cyber criminals to access and divert cryptocurrencies into their own accounts. The whole system is completely transparent, so you'd know exactly who tried to take your Bitcoin and where they tried to put it.
Transacting across borders
With crypto payments, there are virtually no restrictions and borders don't mean anything. Players from Kenya can play at crypto slots platforms in South Africa without paying often exorbitant cross-border fees that normal banks usually charge. Plus, if you use crypto, you don't have to do any confusing calculations to convert currencies. The value of one Bitcoin is exactly the same, no matter where you spend it in the world.
There's lots of potential, but regulations could change things
We've gone over many of the reasons why playing online slots with crypto is popular. With all this in mind, surely everyone should be jumping out of their chairs to set up a crypto wallet? Not so fast, there are some reasons that might make you pause. For the moment, many online casinos don't offer this method of payment. This means that there might not be an online option that truly ticks every online gaming box for you.
The regulations surrounding paying for things using a decentralized coin are also a bit murky. The value of coins are way more volatile than a country's main currency. The value of the bitcoin you bought yesterday could dip a great deal in a few short hours. If the Kenyan government decides to make new regulations surrounding crypto much more strict to try to protect people from all this volatility, the option could slide right off the table. In that case, crypto slots in Africa will have a hard time sticking around.
Do crypto slots have staying power in Africa?
For now, it's likely that crypto slots won't go anywhere. Even if only half of all players living in places like Kenya decide to go down this novel but powerful payment path, that would probably be enough to keep it going. Who knows, maybe the competition from crypto might make banks reduce their fees or invent an even better payment option? Any number of things could happen.