Blog > CryptoCurrency. Is it a good way for fantasy sports?

Oh, I was under impression. As per social networks, blockchain is going to capture the Galaxy. In all fields of business this technology marks its presence. Cryptocurrency as an “exemplar” of that is an alternative to the global payment system, and it seeped already into so many trade operations in real life and did it so quickly that really shocks. On the May 22 of 2010 10 thousands (!!!!) coins were paid for pizza. Today for 1 coin you can buy a used car in well enough condition in USA…

One of the major advantage of cryptocurrency is being outside governmental control. While many countries are moving to proper legislation and transactions tracking, technology itself is built in different way. So this is the system outside the system - out of countries, of governments and regulators.

And that’s why it becomes one of the ‘solution’ or ‘way out’ for gambling business. Some gambling operators were the first who involved crypto payments support.

Regulation process started for fantasy sports business as well. When business operates billions, it appeared hard to skip it. USA is in process, half of European countries require gambling license for Fantasy Sports. And while Fantasy Sports remains to be social game of skill (because people are playing against each other, applying their skills in research, analysis, maths and stats), regulation is coming closer and closer, and that greatly complicates the path to the business for the small operators - they could have a great and brand new ideas, but they do not have enough power to step in… That’s bad, really. That removes competition in the business leaving full pizza to the old whales. And they don’t force themselves to become better, why?

So, I thought, is there a way out? Cryptocurrency… sounds like a plan. I noticed several start ups and already working systems who integrated coins - and they use only coins, no real cash. And yes, they don’t require the license. And yes, they already have a good user base. So, isn’t it a good way? Should I start promoting that and offering new or existing customers and business owners to go that way?

So, I wanted to know more.

At the start of research 2 obvious ways appeared in front of me that can be proposed to Fantasy Sports operators: integrating coins users, who have them already and creating the new cryptocurrency offering ability to buy it to be able to play.

There are no difficulties with crypto payments integration, it is a plain way but it has certain cons. And the major lays exactly in coins using - that means that your audience should be coins using users. While crypto payments gains more and more popularity, it is still not so big as potential user base of fantasy sports games and contests. And also, those start-ups who aim to win certain local market (i.e. country or region) will have to consider the popularity of coins in that area. So that’s… not the perfect way for new-comers.

What about creating new cryptocurrency? That’s definitely interesting, as having unique currency that is supported by real demand - as the Fantasy Sports platform will be the place where the new coins can be spent - looks as the way to “create your personal world”. The model is simple - one runs Fantasy Sports system, creates cryptocurrency, offer it’s selling on a separate website and allows using it to fill in the balance in the fantasy sports system.

For those users, who don’t have coins, this way is beneficial - they don’t have to buy expensive ones or think of how to use it. They buy coins to play - and if they win, they can change them back to real money on a separate service.

While this model still passes through the regulation processes, offers benefits from other sides, but… still have issues. I was disappointed to know that well known payment processing providers, like PayPal…. consider selling crypto-coins as currency exchange. Even not like selling digital goods…. And they do not approve the account for such purposes. So, to sell your own cryptocurrency, you need to find a very custom payment processing provider, that is another risk these days.

From one side running the system with cryptocurrency is a very good alternative. But there are still so many things to consider, so selecting the proper solution requires deep analysis and research.

And we are always here to help you