Esports is a large industry these days. It’s nowhere near the sports industry, but it still reaches more than 500 million people, half of which watch esports events regularly. In total, there are more than a dozen major esports that you can play and follow and every one of them has a thriving professional circuit.
Combined, the most popular esports feature hundreds of tournaments and leagues per year. And almost all of those tournaments receive thorough coverage from news outlets, content creators, and of course, bookmakers. Plenty of great esports bets out there are placed on sites like Thunderpick, which allow you to gamble with cryptocurrencies.
Esports and Esports Betting
Because they are played by the new generation of games, esports are deeply connected to cryptocurrencies in a variety of ways. Many crypto-based companies offer skin trading services, tournament creation services, and much more.
One thing that’s not as common but very useful is crypto betting. When you watch esports at least a few times per month, you may want to spice up your match-viewing experience by betting on some of the teams that you cheer for.
And if your esports knowledge is good, you might even consider betting more often and turning esports betting into a hobby. But governments around the world are slow to react to cultural changes.
Therefore, many of them don’t even know what esports are. A bookmaker that heavily focuses on esports and covers every tournament thoroughly might not be allowed to operate in your country. The available bookmakers that remain can be very few and very limited in what they have to offer.
When you bet on esports, you want the ability to engage in live betting and you also want to have access to at least a dozen different betting markets for every match. But to get those options, you need to use the services of a bookmaker that takes esports as seriously as traditional sports. And there aren’t that many options to choose from.
The number of options is further reduced by your country’s government, which may have banned esports betting completely or may have given the right to operate to a small number of bookmakers.
The Usefulness of Crypto in Esports Betting
Cryptocurrencies have a big advantage over fiat: they are much harder to track. It’s really hard for governments to keep tabs on those who use Bitcoin and Ethereum, and that gives crypto users a bit more freedom. Even in today’s world, you can still enjoy some level of anonymity.
For example, you can place esports bets using crypto from anywhere in the world, using nothing but your Coinbase crypto account (or any other crypto account) and a VPN.
Crypto bets work just like fiat bets. The only problem is that few bookmakers will allow you to bet with crypto. The advantage of a platform like Thunderpick is that it not only makes it easy for you to place bets using cryptocurrencies. It also gives you half a dozen options.
If you don’t want to use Bitcoin, you can use Tether or Litecoin. If you already own such cryptocurrencies, all you need to do is make a transfer between your original account and the account you’ve created on a bookmaker’s website. And you’re good to go.
If you don’t have a crypto account, you can create one and then purchase some crypto using fiat. And if you haven’t signed up on an esports betting site that works with crypto, the process is very simple and only takes a few minutes. Upon making your first deposit, you will receive a bonus of up to $100 that you can use to place bets.
The Most Useful Cryptocurrencies for Esports Betting
Although you can use Bitcoin and Ethereum to place bets, it might be a good idea to start with Tether or XRP. These cryptocurrencies have a lower value and that allows you to place esports bets without having to count a lot of decimal places.
In particular, Tether is a great choice because it’s stable. Since its value is always $1, you don’t need to worry about the typical swings that the crypto market goes through from time to time. This is a very volatile market and it’s not unusual for prices to go up and down by 10-20% in a single day.
If you don’t feel comfortable with that possibility, just keep all your crypto in Tether and you won’t need to check Coinmarketcap three times a day. For many crypto users, trading is part of their everyday lives. But not everyone who owns crypto is interested in that. If you belong to the second category, use Tether and all your worries are gone.
When you bet on esports using cryptocurrency, you can use these options:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Tether
- XRP
- Bitcoin Cash
Several years ago, one of the main limitations of using Bitcoin and Ethereum was the huge transfer fees. Anytime you wanted to send crypto from one account to another or to exchange one form of crypto to buy another, you had to pay big fees.
Today, that’s no longer an issue. The process has become so efficient that the amounts you’ll end up paying will be tiny relative to the amounts you may want to transfer. Even if you send large sums, it won’t cost more than a few dollars.
Secure Transactions
When working with a top bookmaker, your transactions will be fully secure and you’ll be able to withdraw your funds whenever you want. Using crypto is just as secure as using other types of funds.
The main thing you need to be careful about when using crypto in combination with esports betting is the number you type in when placing a bet. The bigger the value of the crypto token you are using, the harder it is to keep track of your wager amounts. This is why it’s a good idea to work with Tether or other forms of crypto that have a small token value.
