Digital Currency and the Online Casino: What’s Driving Crypto Adoption in iGaming

Guest Contribution – Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used as a means of payment in online casinos. Although Bitcoin was the one that first opened the way, it is now stablecoins like USDT and USDC that are drawing the interest of players and operators who want more predictable transaction values.

The increase is considerable. According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, on-chain gambling produced a transaction volume of $51 billion in 2025 and an additional $14 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Moreover, Paysafe introduced a crypto payment solution for eligible US iGaming operators in April 2026. This demonstrates that digital currencies are becoming more integrated into the industry’s payment systems.

Panama is a good place to see how this plays out, since the US dollar is already its everyday currency and the country is updating its gambling and crypto rules at the same time.

Why crypto is gaining ground in online casinos

The online casino experience can be disrupted by card declines, banking restrictions, and slow international transfers. Cryptocurrency provides players with an alternative method of funding their accounts, especially when they already own digital assets. For instance, a person might prefer https://sportbet.one/casino/litecoin-blackjack that allows cryptocurrency deposits and offers a simple way to manage their funds instead of traditional platforms with time-consuming KYC checks and bank transfers.

Blockchain networks carry out the processing of transactions day and night, including on weekends and holidays. The time it takes to get a confirmation and the fees differ from one network to another, and withdrawals may still need extra verification. The attraction is that people have a different payment method that operates outside the normal banking hours.

The banking point carries extra weight in Panama. Local banks remain cautious about working with crypto businesses, and moving money between crypto and bank accounts often happens informally on a peer-to-peer basis. Local government has shown openness to digital payments, however. Panama City’s municipal council approved a measure in April 2025 allowing residents to pay municipal taxes and fines in cryptocurrencies, including USDT and USDC, through partner banks.

They act in response to customer demand.

When Paysafe launched in April 2026, it introduced ‘Pay with Crypto’, backed by MoonPay, for various US iGaming and daily fantasy sports companies. Customers are able to top up their accounts using supported cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which the service then converts into US dollars so that they can play. Operators can include this option via Paysafe’s current payment gateway, eliminating the need to create a complete crypto payment system from scratch.

How crypto payments work

Picture a player putting $100 of Bitcoin into an online casino that offers blackjack. To do this, he transfers the funds from a wallet that is compatible with the system to the deposit address given by the platform. The account is then credited in accordance with the casino’s exchange-rate policy once the transaction has obtained the needed confirmations and clearance from the operator’s checks.

The player can then apply this balance when playing at a blackjack table. Following a session, any withdrawal will be subject to the platform’s verification and payment procedures. The player might receive cryptocurrency or a currency that has been converted, depending on the casino.

For operators, this simple transaction raises several practical questions:

• Players should have clear information regarding the exchange rate that is used to calculate their credited balance.
• The payment terms should make clear who is responsible for paying the network fees and should indicate how long it usually takes for confirmations to be received.
• To avoid sending funds through a network that is not supported, deposit instructions must specify the right token and blockchain.
• The withdrawal policies must state the verification requirements, the processing times, and the various methods of payout.

Providing clear instructions helps to prevent disputes about payments and enables customers to better understand how their money moves around the platform. The rules for blackjack are the same no matter what payment method is used, and crypto just makes it easier to access the game.

Stablecoins make payments easier to manage

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are prone to sharp movements, which makes it more difficult to predict the value of the funds kept between the time they are deposited and when they are withdrawn. Coins that are designed to be stable, such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, aim to follow the value of the US dollar, providing users and operators with a more familiar benchmark.

The dollar peg is especially relevant in Panama, where the US dollar has circulated as legal tender alongside the balboa for more than a century. For a Panamanian player, a USDT or USDC balance is in the same currency as their salary and their grocery bill. That removes the extra conversion step that players in other countries might face when turning stablecoin winnings back into local money.

TRM Labs discovered that stablecoins made up about 70% of the on-chain gambling volume in its examination covering the period from 2022 up to the first quarter of 2026. This amounts to $117 billion out of a total volume of $169 billion. The majority of this activity was due to USDT and USDC, which shows how important it is to have stable transaction values in the crypto gambling sector. The figures refer to the blockchain activity included in TRM’s research and not to the entire global gambling market.

The costs and compliance risks

Crypto payments can increase the range of choices available to customers, but businesses have to look at the entire cost of providing them, including:

• network fees
• processor charges
• currency conversion
• liquidity
• compliance
• compromised wallets
• erroneous transfers
• fraud
• customer disputes

Since blockchain transfers do not have the standard card chargeback procedure, it is especially important to focus on prevention and to keep a close eye on transactions.

In its assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing issued in July 2026, the UK Gambling Commission looks at the risks encountered by licensed gambling businesses, and Panama is moving in a similar direction. In June 2026, local press reported that Panama had enacted Law No. 527, which requires online operators to offer time and spending limits, tightens age verification, and tasks the Junta de Control de Juegos with issuing rules on biometric identification and controls on payment methods.

Crypto itself sits in a regulatory grey zone in Panama, where none of the roughly seven crypto and fintech bills put forward in the National Assembly had become law by early 2026, according to the Chambers Fintech 2026 guide.

It is the responsibility of the operators to evaluate their payment providers, keep an eye on any suspicious activity, and comply with the gambling and financial regulations that apply in their various markets. The fact that they accept cryptocurrencies does not mean that they are exempt from these obligations.

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