Crypto and Gambling – Growing Trend

Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular for gambling, and this trend has been growing in recent years. The Coinfirm’s Analytics team decided to analyze transfers from one of the largest US exchanges to gambling companies to better understand the phenomenon. This analysis revealed an impressive surge in cryptocurrency transfers starting in 2021 and peaking in 2022, with the value of these transfers increasing by 11 times compared to 2020. We also sought to assess risky transactions by analyzing an almost 500k Ethereum address associated with gambling and found that 2% were linked to crime and fraud.

The analysis began with examining crypto transfers from one of the top US Crypto exchanges to gambling companies over time. Starting in 2021, there was already a notable increase compared to previous years; however, it wasn’t until 2022 that things took off as the value of these transfers increased significantly—by 11 times! This indicates that cryptocurrency is being used more frequently for gambling activities than ever before. Even though there was still an upward trend after 2022 but at lower dynamics levels, some months saw record highs when it came to transfer values.

Transfers from one of the top cryptocurrency exchange to Ethereum addresses associated with gambling entities

With further analysis, we wanted to understand how much risk is involved when using cryptocurrency for gambling activities. The Coinfirm Analytics team analyzed almost 500k Ethereum addresses and found that 2% were linked to crime and fraud. This shows that there is some risk involved when using cryptocurrency for gambling, although it is still relatively low compared to the number of legitimate transactions being made each day.

In conclusion, cryptocurrency use in gambling has rapidly increased over the last few years; however, there are still risks associated with using crypto for this purpose. Our analysis revealed that transfers from one of the largest US exchanges to gambling companies have significantly increased since 2021; additionally, our further analysis of around 500k Ethereum addresses showed that 2% were linked to criminal activity or fraud. Overall, cryptocurrency use for gambling is here to stay and will likely continue to grow over time.