INSIGHT
HOW WE LEARNT
TO WIN AT CRYPTO
Although there were some expensive lessons to learn in the beginning, the early uptake of
cryptocurrency has paid dividends for Winning Poker Network. But while the world is now focusing
on its money-making potential, this digital asset was originally intended to be a quick and inexpensive
way to move cash, says Jamie Harvey
CRYPTOCURRENCY is all the rage
these days. Whether you’re navigating the
internet, checking your Facebook profile, or
even flipping on the television, you’re more
than likely to run into some kind of story
about the medium of exchange du jour.
public’s imagination with soaring prices and
rags to riches stories being told seemingly
on a daily basis. Interest is at a fever pitch.
But while the whole world may be
focusing on the money-making potential
that comes with cryptocurrency as an
“Seeing the growth, along with the response from
our player base, encouraged us to work harder than ever
to educate our customers as to why processing with
bitcoin was the best option”
By now you’ve likely heard some of
the classics that have made their rounds
across the news outlets. In 2010, a computer
developer famously purchased two pizzas
with his 10,000 bitcoin, which would today
have been worth more than US$100m.
Another man from the UK accidentally
threw away his laptop in which he held
the equivalent of $127m of the digital gold.
He now spends his days digging through
landfills in the vain hope of somehow
stumbling across it.
Over the past year especially, bitcoin and
other cryptocurrencies have captured the
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investment, many have forgotten the
practical application for which it was
originally designed – as a quick and
inexpensive way to move money.
Endless advantages
The advantages of this cryptocurrency in
commerce, economic globalisation and
revolutionising payment processing are
endless. And for an online poker operator,
it offers a tool of unlimited potential.
Poker operators have always had a
big challenge finding reliable payment
processing solutions, and many available
options pose big challenges for players
and operators. For instance, person-to-
person payment options such as
Western Union and MoneyGram can
result in massive fees to customers,
while poker operators constantly have
to deal with credit-card chargebacks
from disgruntled players unwilling to
accept their losses.
In 2015, we at the Winning Poker
Network saw bitcoin as a great solution
for many of these types of problems. Here
was a technology that could dramatically
increase transaction limits and speed up
deposits and withdrawals inexpensively,
both for the customer and for us.
Cryptocurrencies have no borders.
You can instantly send payments around
the globe, free of cross border fees,
cumbersome KYC requirements and
the unnecessary delays associated with
traditional transactions.
Sink or swim approach
We’ve always had a “sink or swim”
approach to the way we do business at
the Winning Poker Network. I’d be lying