UK
Gambling has evolved beyond merely betting 10 dollars on a horse and wishing for a good outcome. With innovative iGaming offerings such as Bitblox, you can now strategically bet on whether Bitcoin's price will increase or decrease over three consecutive 20-second slots within a minute through a platform that incorporates live market data.
Casino.org interviewed Bitblox CEO Brandt Page regarding the exciting new realm of cryptocurrency-based prediction games.
Brandt, your organization offers prediction games based on skill. Could you clarify what these are and what motivated you to make them?
Skill-based prediction games are fundamentally a type of wager where the result of each round is determined by factors other than a random number generator (RNG). In our scenario, participants are trying to accurately predict the price fluctuations of the real Bitcoin market, meaning their success depends on actual real-world information instead of mere luck.
I would argue that Bitblox games find a perfect balance between chance-based games and skill-based games, since players don’t require any prior understanding of the crypto markets to participate – and I believe that was the genuine motivation behind our development goals.
Instead of modifying a current RNG-based format such as slots or table games, we aimed to create an entirely new vertical within the iGaming industry. It needed to attract both seasoned bettors and casual gamers alike, and I believe our distinctive format has achieved that.
Thus, these games are created for a digitally knowledgeable younger audience. Do you believe this demographic is disinterested in more conventional gambling games? Is it due to their preference for a part of the decision-making process? A distinct kind of engagement and feeling of reward?
I believe this is a very intriguing question, and it’s something we are certainly learning more about as we refine our products every month. I wouldn’t claim that the younger market is “disinterested” in traditional gambling formats, as developers focused on slots and casino games are definitely creating their titles with this demographic in consideration.
What I would mention, though, is that there’s certainly information available indicating that these younger, more tech-oriented players are attracted to games where they take a more active part in the result of every betting round. I believe that for many of them, having a sense of input or control over their chances of winning or losing is much more captivating than just being a bystander to RNG. Focusing on Bitblox games in particular, allowing players to utilize their own market insights to guide their bets increases the overall allure.
Is there truly expertise required to forecast crypto changes over such a brief timeframe?
It's well understood that the Bitcoin market can be extremely volatile, especially in a brief time frame. However, this seeming “unpredictability” is actually a major reason for the wide attraction of our games.
"When you zoom out and take a longer-term view of the Bitcoin price, there are definite macro trends that can also be used to inform predictions in the short term, and we give bettors all the tools they need to do this through our live price feed.
With that in mind, when attempting to forecast the Bitcoin price direction within a 20 or 60-second timeframe, the market's natural volatility leads to significant fluctuations – meaning that casual participants are not sidelined, as they can choose to wager based on intuition or select the choice that promises the highest return. In this regard, I would assert that there is indeed a level of skill required in Bitblox games, but it’s not so extensive as to alienate players unfamiliar with crypto.
What benefits do these game types offer to operators?
I believe the key benefit Bitblox games provide to operators is their unique combination of chance and skill-based games (SBGs), which attracts a diverse range of players.
We previously encountered a scenario with a partner who first placed our games in the crash/instant win category, which unexpectedly drew significant traffic from players who typically wager solely on sports. When they "corrected" this by relocating them to the sportsbook, they experienced the same phenomenon but in reverse. Ultimately, they simply relocated them to the homepage and achieved the best of both options.
This certainly highlights the potential size of the audience that can be attracted by our games. Additionally, considering that betting rounds are consistently brief in all our titles and provide numerous chances for wagering, we have a product that strongly resonates with the quick-paced tastes of current gambling audiences while supplying operators with ample user engagement and a dependable profit margin.
The US elections highlighted the rising popularity of prediction markets. Do you believe a more decentralized blend of betting and trading may represent the future of gambling?
I can’t definitively state it will be decentralized or not, but I believe we will increasingly witness a blending of trading and gambling in the future. I can envision a future where markets exist for virtually everything, eliminating the need for a singular gambling platform and a sole trading platform.
"Instead, you’ll have one place where you can do all your trading – whether that’s financial or crypto-related – all your casino activities, all of your sports betting, and also make predictions on any market you can think of. That’s definitely the current direction of travel, but the big challenge is that there’s a very different regulatory framework for both of those things at the moment and, unless there’s some harmony between the two systems, that’s a big blocker to this sort of hybridization happening.
There exists a situation where individuals from the conventional finance sector observe the gambling markets and think, "trading markets are significantly tighter – the margins are slimmer than in gambling where people earn profits," suggesting that traders could potentially dominate the gambling platforms.
What is your perspective on the evolution of regulations concerning crypto gambling, both in the short term and long term? Might we witness regulatory oversight of crypto payment systems and blockchain-based games in the US someday, for instance?
I believe that employing cryptocurrency as a payment method for gaming and having the web3 ecosystem actually support them are two entirely separate concepts.
We have undoubtedly observed the surge of crypto casinos that allow play with various cryptocurrencies – including stablecoins such as USDT and tokens like Bitcoin and Ether – so I believe this is already well-established in the gambling industry.
"On top of that, the election of Trump, who is a very pro-crypto advocate, and his assertion that he wants the US to become a world leader in the space, will hopefully be positive for crypto and crypto markets in general.
In web3, the situation is somewhat distinct. It remains unverified if web3 can provide – rapidly – the kind of experiences required to rival conventional “centralized stack” games such as slots. We haven't reached that point yet, but from my experience with web3 projects before, I wouldn’t undervalue its potential once the speed and bandwidth of blockchain technology align with other advancements.
What do you foresee for cryptocurrency in 2025?
I’ve maintained for a while that I believe crypto isn’t going to disappear, and the events of the last year certainly haven’t altered my view on this. In the United States, specifically, the present government has expressed strong support for cryptocurrencies and has even detailed strategies for how Bitcoin could play a progressively important role in the US strategic reserve.
Additionally, the recent bull market and Bitcoin's price hitting a record high have undeniably garnered extensive media attention, further highlighting the sector and increasing public interest in cryptocurrencies overall.
I believe all of this creates an ideal environment for additional crypto growth in 2025 – and while I’m not inclined to predict what that might imply for prices, I think it’s reasonable to suggest we’ll witness increased business adoption and greater regulation as well.
