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Bitcoin ATMs Installation Doubled in 2018

With cryptocurrency’s recent upsurge in popularity, it’s safe to say that a Bitcoin revolution is on the horizon. Bitcoin means different things to different people. To some, it’s an overused industry buzzword that’s slowly starting to lose its meaning; to others, Bitcoin is going to revolutionize the way we do business.

When the cash substitute was officially launched nearly a decade ago, few thought would catapult into the global financial phenomenon it has become today. In fact, most people still only have a vague understanding of how Bitcoin actually works.

Before we get into the specifics of Bitcoin, let’s take a step back and delve into how it came about. There are three types of people involved in the exchange of goods—the producer, the consumer, and the middleman. For example, if you want to sell items on Amazon or eBay, you must pay seller’s fees to those platforms; the platform is the middleman in the deal. And in any such deal, the middleman can end up taking a large cut of the producer’s money. Put simply, Bitcoin is a digital currency that serves one essential purpose—to get rid of the need for banks, which in just about every instance of traditional currency transactions serve as a middleman.

For example, banks can be quite an obstructive part of the currency exchange process. Let’s say you want to transfer $3,000 from your country to a friend in Australia. The money must go first through a central bank in your country. That bank collects a processing fee, and once the money reaches the bank in the Australia, your friend’s bank charges a fee as well.

It’s not just the fees that are the issue, but the data they store during a transaction. Banks store a massive amount of private data about their customers. And over the last decade, bank hackings have become a regular occurrence, which is dangerous for those who depend on banks.

The timing of Bitcoin’s creation is also noteworthy. The cryptocurrency officially launched in 2009, right after the financial crisis of 2008, a crisis brought about by banks abusing their power. With Bitcoin eliminating the need for a central authority, it brought power back to the hands of the people when buying and selling.

Fast forward to 2017: Bitcoin was in the headlines once again as several “Bitcoin millionaires” induced a wave of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s) and collectively sent more than $2 billion to help fund hundreds of new crypto projects. During this time, Bitcoin accounted for more than 50 percent of value of all “crypto assets”, with the market experiencing more than $5 billion in trading volume per day across 1,100 currencies and tokens.

Although 2018 was considered somewhat of a rocky year for crypto in terms of price fluctuations, the number of cryptocurrency ATM machines has doubled from 2,025 ATMs in 2017 to 4,051 ATMs worldwide in 2018.

Traditional ATMs (automated teller machines) offer individuals and business owners the opportunity to withdraw or deposit fiat currency—like the US dollar or Euro—into or from their banking accounts or credit cards even when their banks aren’t open. Cryptocurrency ATMs (or crypto ATMs) function differently.

Since cryptocurrencies, for the most part, haven’t hit the point of mainstream adoption, they’re not accepted at most commercial establishments nor do they exist as physical tender. Crypto ATMs allow individuals to buy or sell a specific type of cryptocurrency with the US dollar or Euro. There are also some Crypto ATMs that can facilitate the conversion of cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) into fiat currencies.

The crypto prices may be fluctuating at a rapid rate these days, but it is becoming more widely adopted despite appearances. The number of crypto ATMs installations has now increased considerably even though the prices have been dropping.

The world's first Bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver, Canada in the fall of 2013, allowing users to exchange their credits of the digital currency for cash and vice-versa. According to Coin ATM Radar, of the 1,258 Bitcoin ATM machines available in the US, over 1,000 of them support Bitcoin Cash. On their crypto ATM map, ATM Radar has marked a total of 4,085 cryptocurrency ATM machines in the world across 76 countries.

The Rise of Crypto ATMS

One of the most surprising pieces of information comes from a report from analytics firm Data Light, which showed that in 2018, an average of six cryptocurrency ATM machines were installed per day. One of the main ways to encourage wider crypto integration and adoption is by increasing the availability of crypto for the masses. The proliferation of ATMs around the globe is undoubtedly achieving this goal.

Most of these machines offer Bitcoin, while roughly 50 percent offer other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Ethereum. Dash is also available on a number of ATMs as well. The vast majority of these ATMs were installed within the first few months 2018 when Bitcoin prices were still skyrocketing after the colossal price jump in December 2017.

There are two main types of devices: the basic machine, which includes the functionality of buying cryptocurrency, and more advanced ATMs that allow users to sell digital coins in addition to purchasing them. And being that Bitcoin’s birthplace is here in North America, the U.S. remains the dominant country with 70 new ATM installations, with Peru, Albania and South Korea having their first citcoin ATMs installations in November 2018, as revealed in the data from Coin ATM Radar. Crypto ATM machines can be found in:

North America (3,157 machines) United Kingdom (200 machines) Central Europe (750 machines) South America (65 machines) Australia (54 machines)

What Does this Mean for Cryptocurrency?

The demand for Bitcoin ATMS is driven almost entirely by Bitcoin users, many of whom prefer to avoid interacting with central banks to access their funds. It’s hard to say whether or not the sheer increase in the number of crypto ATMs will result in a spike in the value of cryptocurrencies in the upcoming years. What we can assume is that an increase in crypto ATMs will boost cryptocurrency’s visibility, making it a more observable part of day-to-day life for individuals throughout the world. They may also encourage curious individuals to jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon when they might not otherwise do so. Final Thoughts

Mike Dupree, CEO of ATM makers EasyBit, says his firm is targeting consumers who are already using cryptocurrencies and that building a customer outside of this niche is a challenge. Dupree recognizes that there has been a fall in cryptocurrency prices, but claims that “the beauty of cryptocurrencies is that you don’t have to trust a financial institution to back your wealth. Decentralization is the future, and regulation will eventually fall in line.”

What the future holds for Bitcoin is a mystery. But there are some things we can infer. Price fluctuations over the last year have been volatile over the last year, to say the least. However, the growing number of crypto ATMs throughout the world offers promising implications for awareness raising about crypto. They also give non-investors who may not be as knowledgeable about the blockchain, Bitcoin, or cryptocurrency to take the plunge and make initial investments into crypto.

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How Cryptocurrency is Changing Online Gambling in Europe

European Gambling

It’s no secret that the proliferation of the internet has helped facilitate the growth of numerous industries, with one of the best examples being the online gambling market. And for most, this comes as no surprise, as we are in an age of ever-evolving digitization.

If you go back far enough in history, you’ll learn that traditional casinos were originally established for members of the wealthy elite. But since the emergence of online casino games, betting platforms and digital casinos, anyone with access to a computer or mobile device can now partake in the thrills of online gambling sites.

Over the course of the last decade, the online gambling market has exploded in popularity. From government officials to average Joes, gamblers from all walks of life are flocking to digital casinos to spend their hard-earned money.

The roots of online gambling can be traced back to the early 1990s, when Antigua and Barbuda became the first jurisdiction to authorize online gambling, with online casinos officially going live by the end of 1994. While it quickly started gaining momentum, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that online gambling really became an industry of global interest. By 2008, online gambling revenue reached $21 billion.

If there’s one thing that characterizes the online casino industry, it would be its propensity for innovation. These days, several inventions are revolutionizing the gambling industry and indisputably, the inclusion of cryptocurrencies in online gambling platforms is perhaps one of the most advanced trends on the market. Cryptocurrency was mainstreamed in 2009 when Bitcoin became the first decentralized cryptocurrency after its unveiling in 2008 by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s founder.

The use of Bitcoin as a viable form of payment spiked in popularity so quickly that online casinos that exclusively dealt in dealing with cryptocurrency transactions were established. Currently, the European gambling sector makes up nearly half of all gambling transactions online and has been growing every year since the inception of the internet.

Casinos like BitStarz, Casino Betchan, Oshi Casino, and Vegas Casino have permanently changed the course of the betting industry by demonstrating that Bitcoin can indeed be relied on as a trusted form of payment for online gambling betting.

Another key player alongside Bitcoin is UniKoinGold, a cryptocurrency that is based on the ERC-20 Ethereum standard. With Unikrn recently being awarded a gaming license, UniKoinGold is now authorized to supply up to 80 percent of the European gambling market online.

Unikrn Chief Executive, Rahul Sood, recently remarked “The European expansion means there’s going to be a large and soon-growing marketplace of users, including the real-money transition of already established users, who want to buy, exchange, and use our token to bet on our platform.”

Even new mobile technology has made it possible to bring casinos games and sports online betting to the masses, completely transforming the industry as we know it. And with the current climate, cryptocurrencies are about to do the same and take online gambling to a whole new level.

Amid the changes, what key areas are affected?

Gambling regulation

Each country in Europe has its own unique set of gambling laws. Recently, more and more European countries have been altering their regulations in an attempt to protect their citizens. In 2017 alone the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Poland tightened their restrictions, making it more difficult for some gambling companies to operate within their borders. Luckily, many of the top sites cater to numerous countries.

These regulations are required to keep players safe; when a ban is enacted, it puts players at risk as there is no protection should they come across any issues. But with the rising fame of cryptocurrency, these changes won’t be roadblocks anymore. In fact, regulations can now actually be incorporated as part of the protocol and can use the blockchain to provide 100 percent accurate results. These online casino games cannot be tampered with, which means that fewer regulations should be required. Automated casinos

One of the biggest advances in the blockchain sector is the introduction of smart contracts, which allow the performance of credible transactions without the needing the assistance of third parties.

The technology behind this is evolving and improving at such a rapid pace that once it’s set up, all the processes will be run by sophisticated algorithms that won’t need any human interference whatsoever. The systems are essentially able to locate their own information and act on that so that everything can run smoothly despite the lack of human operators.

Since blockchain technology is automated to perform functions that were previously completed by human beings, automated casinos will significantly reduce fees and expenses associated with gambling transactions, and therefore enable consumers to maximize on their profits. The more successful these attempts become, the more likely blockchains could ultimately be used to manage more activities than ever before, including both machine-to-machine and person-to-person interactions. Profit Margin

For online casinos, profits are generated through a house edge, which represents a small percentage that the operators are estimated to win if the odds end up in their favor.

Mathematically speaking, the longer a player is at the tables or slots, the higher the probability that they will lose. The lower the house edge, the better the player, meaning they will lose less over the same time frame played. Cryptocurrency-based models are changing the ways in which these profits are made. With zero house edge, both the player and the house will have an equal chance of winning. Transparency and trust

One thing that is lacking online is the transparency of the games being played. There are a few casinos have used this to their advantage to rig games for their benefit. However, for games that run on blockchain technology, that is something you won’t have to worry about since everything is carried out in a transparent environment that is virtually impossible to manipulate.

Gambling with Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies has benefits that are far-reaching for the player. Firstly, Bitcoin is pseudonymous, which means that players can take comfort in the fact that their transactions will be unrestricted and hard to trace. For most online casino games, participants are required to submit their bank account or PayPal information to play, a notion that is becoming increasingly unpopular in the age of digital privacy. But with blockchains, there’s no need to input your personal details. You have the option to stay completely anonymous. All you need is your BTC address and you’re good to go. Final Thoughts

Online gambling is one of the most promising industries to surface in recent years. Based on the direction digital technology is headed, it’s clear that online gambling is not losing its allure anytime soon. We most likely won’t see land-based casinos like those based in Las Vegas get overshadowed by virtual casinos, but as the use of blockchain technology continues to rise, it will inevitably produce some kind of seismic shift in the space.

While gamblers are subject to the standard regulatory restrictions and dishonesty from other players, there is hope in the long run. As you can see, blockchain technology has huge potential to transform the gambling industry for players, operators, and regulators. We’re excited to stick around and see what will become of online casino games in the months and years to come.

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A New Age for Digital Advertising with Blockchain?

Advertising has become an essential part of promoting any type of business available and even plays a role in driving the data market further. The advertising industry is worth billions of dollars and is on course to hit $120 billion by 2021 in the US.

Every company, no matter what they offer, cannot function without reaching their target audience— this is where digital advertising comes into the picture. Brands like Google live off consumer data which can be used to send targeted ads to the right audience. Unfortunately, there are several issues that make the process of reaching the right audience inefficient when it comes to online marketing.

Currently, almost half of all ad traffic is generated by bots. This means that even though so many brands pay a lot of money to reach their potential customers, it does not guarantee that they will actually make any sales to real, paying customers. While the reach and even engagement generated by paid ads can translate to heavy figures, the useful leads are relatively low and drop off early in the buyer's journey.

This situation can be fixed by creating an advertising platform that will allow a company to develop a digital strategy that targets their potential customers individually and in a direct manner. This will ensure that bots can be filtered out and sales can be maximized. Blockchain applications and smart contracts are great technologies to base your marketing strategy on.

A blockchain platform is an immutable digital ledger that stores all the transactions carried out on the network it supports. It has already been described as an emerging technology that will disrupt the way several industries function. It is now clear that digital marketing may be one of those ledger technology industries.

In the past few years, since the emergence of bitcoin, the buzz surrounding blockchain development, which underpins most cryptocurrencies has increased considerably. There are already more than 2000 digital currency, all with their own unique use cases and projects. The appeal of blockchain lies in the number of useful applications it has. In advertising, a blockchain platform would be able to target the users on its network without allowing bot activity to thrive in digital marketing campaigns. It could also change current the world of advertising by addressing the lack of transparency and and making the process more private. How Can the New Blockchain Process Be Used By Advertisers?

Mostly, blockchain can be used to improve the process of running digital ads and paying out publishers as well as distributors. When implemented, the technology can improve the following: Fraud Prevention

Advertising has a fraud problem perpetrated by human accounts as well as bots. Usually, bots are created to crawl web pages carrying out helpful tasks, but they have become a medium for carrying out cybercrime and other fraudulent activities across multiple channels.

Popular platforms like Twitter where advertising plays a huge role have reported a bot problem that they’re actively trying to combat. In fact, Twitter has begun making plans to implement blockchain technology in solving this problem.

According to “What Happens Next: How To Reverse The Rising Tide Of Ad Fraud,” a 2017 report, up to $16.4 billion of global advertising revenue was wasted on ad fraud in 2017. Unfortunately, this figure may continue to increase if nothing is done to fix the situation. There are several factors that make blockchain well-suited for fraud prevention, including:

Immutability High levels of security due to its decentralized mode of operation, verification mechanisms and encryption. Transparency since transactions can be authenticated.

Overall, blockchain systems make it difficult to commit fraud because transactions are in the open. Also, blockchains do not have a single point of failure and as such, it is difficult to hack them. This can potentially save advertisers and publishers millions each year by protecting them against cybercrime.

Direct to Consumer Digital Marketing

Platforms like Google and Facebook have come under fire recently for consumer-data distribution issues. Because such platforms make a lot of revenue off advertising, they collect consumer data to better target the right target audience. Unfortunately, this could feel like a violation of privacy for many users who would rather have more control over how their data is collected and what it is used for.

Usually, enterprises that run digital ads on larger platforms like Google and Facebook have to pay for this service. Blockchain gives them a way out. Since the information stored on blockchain networks are secured using various encryptions that can only be decrypted using the owner’s private keys, users retain control over their data. As a result, the services of middlemen will no longer be needed in the advertising data collection process. These blockchain platforms create a direct connection between potential buyers and sellers.

Companies can also use blockchain to show people who their data is being sold to since the information cannot be deleted or manipulated. This will make consumers feel at ease without having to constantly worry about their data. Provision of Efficient Cross-promotional B2B Contracts

Smart contracts are lines of written code in the form of distributed apps on a blockchain network. They are created to set up a binding agreement between parties based on their conditions. The conditions can be external events, like a price point, set of obligations or time limit with an expiration date. Since blockchain transactions can easily be verified, smart contracts cannot be forged and all involved parties can follow up the transaction.

These contracts can be used in any system from voting to app subscription and digital marketing. They help advertisers bypass lawyers and other middlemen by conducting the process of exchanging money, shares or any valuable assets. These contracts are created with conditions that are self-executed in a transparent and conflict-free way.

Influencer marketing is popular among brands but there is currently no regulatory third party to determine how terms are created and followed or even how payments are made. Using blockchain applications, businesses will be able to clearly state obligations that must be met for payments to be made, and a smart contract will enforce it.

This will make B2B cross-promotional marketing more efficient since several contracts change hands between marketers, writers, bloggers and even social media influencers daily. Ultimately, businesses will protect themselves and save money and time in the event of a contract breach. Transparency in Contracts and With Consumers

There are lot of cases in which advertising lacks transparency, such as platforms that show advertisers false metrics. For example, a platform could claim to gain millions of impressions on each ad they put out. Normally, there would be no good way to verify this information and find out the truth.

This presents an easy way for platforms to defraud enterprises through false advertisement. However, since a blockchain records such data in a way that cannot be tampered with, it can easily be verified. Final Thoughts

Advertising will continue to be the backbone of commerce because most people will not buy a product if they are not given a reason to. However, like many other industries, it is due for a technological reform that will make it more efficient for all relevant stakeholders. Blockchain implementation not only makes the advertising process easier, it makes it faster, more secure and transparent. As this emerging technology continues to develop, there will gradually be more stable versions of it that may become more valuable to the digital advertising industry.