Crypto Casinos Go Big with Blockchain Partnerships
18 September 2026
Cryptocurrency gambling is driving a wave of partnerships for crypto casinos, pulling the niche from the fringes and into the mainstream of digital betting.
The global online gambling market grossed over $70 billion in revenue in 2024, but crypto betting alone surpassed $81.4 billion by 2024, marking a fivefold increase from 2022 levels. Since then, the market has continued to surge: on-chain crypto gambling volumes reached $60 billion by mid-2025, and $14 billion in the first quarter of 2026. The upward trajectory shows no sign of slowing.
Driving the growth is blockchain technology's solution to pain points of traditional digital betting. Slow payouts, opaque odds, and cross-border payment friction are being addressed with stablecoins, smart contracts, and DeFi infrastructure.
Stablecoins like USDC and WAVAX are instrumental as they enable low-fee, dollar-denominated, value-stable payments, abstracting away crypto volatility. Enabled by smart contracts, bets can be settled automatically as terms are met, eliminating the need for manual oversight and disputes.
DeFi casinos are further expanding by plugging into liquidity pools, oracle networks, and cross-chain bridges, forging seamless user experiences and introducing novel financial instruments.
The maturation of the crypto casino market is also marked by major partnerships with firms in the betting and media industries. Crypto.com, a notable player, struck a $275 million deal to launch regulated prediction markets in the U.S. with High Roller Technologies, the owner and operator of the New York Stock Exchange. The alliance, announced last month, also calls for Crypto.com’s standalone prediction market platform, OG, to provide infrastructure and clearing for Robinhood’s Prediction Markets.
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Also in 2026, Intercontinental Exchange invested $2 billion in Polymarket, a major cryptocurrency-based betting site for current events that has attracted partnerships with media and entertainment heavyweights like Dow Jones, TKO Group, and X.
Sponsorships and licensing are also major growth strategies. Stake, one of the most dominant crypto gambling platforms, has sponsored Formula One Racing Teams, while Rollbit became the official partner of eSports Team FaZe, a subsidiary of GameSquare Holdings, for a multi-million dollar amount. Shuffle, on the other hand, has generated $1 billion a month in betting volume. Meanwhile, Rivalry has generated over $1 million in new revenue from the launch of a proprietary crypto token for its digital casino.
However, the growth of crypto betting is much faster within the illegal and gray markets. 43% of the world’s most popular illegal betting websites accepted cryptocurrency deposits as of early 2026, a sharp 18-point increase from 2024, on the road to becoming the preferred payments method, according to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. In contrast, only 5% of legal operators offer cryptocurrency betting account funding options.
Market analysts see crypto betting as converging with prediction markets, sports betting, and mainstream distribution channels, driven in part by new technologies such as the metaverse. Fanatics, for example, launched its Sports & Casino app on September 2, 2026. The merging of all types of crypto bets into one app streamlines user experience and exposure.
The future is bright but unpredictable. The mature U.S. prediction market alone, for one, could surpass £1 trillion in annual trading volume, but regulators will have a major say in how the crypto casino market matures. Services outside U.S. supervision will continue to dominate until the space matures.
