In the last few years, iGaming has become one of the most dynamic engines of the digital economy. The global iGaming sector grew from around $85.6 billion in 2023 to more than $95 billion in 2024, driven by online casinos, sports betting and, increasingly, by platforms that accept cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, the market is breaking record after record. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), commercial gaming revenue in the U.S. reached approximately $71.9 billion in 2024, up 7.5% compared to 2023, marking the fourth consecutive year of record results.
Within this growth cycle, crypto casinos already operate at a scale that rivals many traditional groups. Some estimates suggest these platforms generated around $81.4 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2024, a fivefold jump compared to 2022, based on data from Yield Sec.
At this point, crypto casinos stop being just a subsegment and start shaping the future of global iGaming, influencing player behavior, the technology operators rely on, and even the regulatory debate itself.
Why Players Look For Crypto Casinos?
Today, only seven states fully allow real-money online casinos: New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Several others still restrict online gambling to sports betting or poker.
At the same time, AGA data shows that iGaming revenue (regulated online casinos) reached about $8.41 billion in 2024, nearly 29% higher than the previous year, in just seven jurisdictions. That reveals a clear demand for digital casino experiences, but also a geographically constrained market.
As a result, many players end up turning to offshore platforms that work as a kind of global casino, accessible through a browser, a crypto wallet and, in some cases, a VPN. This is also why guides and comparison pieces on online casinos like Stake, such as the one put together by Lewis Mitchell, are so popular.
They cater to players who want sites that operate in a similar way to Stake but offer small differences in game catalog, bonuses, crypto support or deposit methods. Even though crypto casinos are blocked in several jurisdictions, access to these services remains relatively easy through URL redirects, mirror links and VPNs.
The result is a paradox. The U.S. is building a multibillion-dollar regulated iGaming market, but a portion of the most engaged traffic continues to test offshore crypto platforms that position themselves as a fast, global, borderless alternative.
How Are Crypto Casinos Shaping the Future of Global iGaming Today?
From Crypto Experiment To Billion-Dollar Player
When the first crypto casinos appeared, the idea felt experimental. Use Bitcoin or other digital coins to fund bets on slots, roulette and provably fair games, leveraging blockchain transparency and the pseudo-anonymous nature of transactions. Today, the numbers make it clear that this experimental phase is over.
Yield Sec’s report released in April 2025 indicates that crypto casino wagers paid in digital assets generated around $81.4 billion in GGR in 2024, a fivefold increase in just two years.
Some industry executives question whether the methodology overestimates total volume, but even with a margin of error, the order of magnitude is enough to put these operators in the same conversation as major global iGaming groups.
Meanwhile, the regulated market in the U.S. is following a more predictable growth curve. AGA estimates that total commercial gaming revenue in the country reached $71.92 billion in 2024, with the iGaming slice climbing to $8.41 billion and gaining weight inside the revenue mix.
In other words, the regulated sector is growing steadily, with a parallel crypto mirror that already moves a comparable amount of money and, in some cuts of the data, even more, despite operating largely offshore.
This combination means regulators, operators and market analysts are treating crypto casinos less like a curiosity and more like a structural force. They attract players who want game variety, crypto integration and, above all, a type of digital experience that often shows up on these platforms before it reaches licensed casinos.
Blockchain, Instant Payments And A Borderless UX
One of the reasons crypto casinos have so much influence over the future of iGaming is the tech stack they use by default.
Instead of relying exclusively on cards and bank transfers, these platforms build around on-chain payments, stablecoins and integrations with digital wallets that reduce friction between the desire to bet and the balance available.
Reports tracking iGaming growth highlight that near-instant deposits and withdrawals are one of the main advantages users perceive compared to legacy products, which can still take days to settle certain transactions.
In crypto casinos, an American player can send USDT, USDC, BTC or ETH from an exchange or wallet, see the balance almost in real time and start a session without going through the full traditional bank verification flow.
On top of that, the concept of provably fair gaming, where the operator shows cryptographic seeds and hashes to prove the randomness of results, has become central in several projects.
Even if the average user does not audit every spin, the technical transparency pitch creates a sense of control that shapes expectations around online casinos in general.
This UX pattern, built around mobile, fast login, simplified onboarding and crypto integration, ends up serving as a reference point for licensed operators.
Final Thoughts
Regulated brands are gradually incorporating, even if in a more controlled way, options such as digital wallets, pay-by-bank and, in some cases, cryptocurrencies through payment intermediaries.
