The Bitcoin Slide: Why Bitcoin’s Dominance at Online Casinos is Declining

The popularity of different cryptocurrencies for gambling has always been in flux, but one trend that has remained strong throughout the years is Bitcoin’s number one position at crypto casinos. Since the launch of the pioneering SatoshiDice in 2012, Bitcoin has been the cryptocurrency of choice. So why is it now slipping?

The rise of Bitcoin at online casinos

SatoshiDice was launched in April of 2012 and is widely recognized as the pioneer of Bitcoin gambling. It was the first service to process significant volume, at one point accounting for roughly 50% of all Bitcoin transactions.

This was a golden age for “free” Bitcoin. Casinos would often offer BTC faucets that rewarded players with small fractions of a coin for completing simple puzzles or captchas. At its peak in 2013, gambling transactions from just this one site, SatoshiDice, accounted for over 50% of all Bitcoin network volume.

The decline of Bitcoin at online casinos

Over time, however, Bitcoin has lost its dominance when it comes to being used at cryptocurrency casinos.

Bitcoin’s share of the market dropped from 83.3% in early 2023 to roughly 66% by the end of 2024, according to Softswiss. They noted that in early 2025, as Bitcoin’s price rose with the hope of Trump’s presidency, players began treating BTC as a savings asset. They had begun to use altcoins as their daily spending currency.

Data from CoinsPaid also shows that stablecoin transactions have increased around the same time, rising from 11% in January 2023 to 18% by December 2023. In contrast, Bitcoin’s transaction share began the year at 72% in January and followed a downward trend each month, despite some fluctuations, ending the year at just 42% in December

This is at a time when, in the global market, Bitcoin has increased its dominance over altcoins through 2025.

The Solana shift

There has been a massive migration to high-throughput blockchains to benefit from lower transaction fees and instant payments. In countries across Africa, for instance, the demand for low fees has reached a tipping point. In the 2026 Softswiss report, Africa is identified as the “Payments Battleground,” noting that in emerging markets, there is now “zero tolerance” for the high fees and slow transaction speeds associated with legacy blockchains like Bitcoin.

Mini-games take over

Instant deposits and withdrawals are in demand, driven by the rise of “Microbetting”. Original, casual, mini, or instant games (yes, they have a lot of names), such as Crash and Plinko, which were created by sites like Stake after the first mainstream wave of interest in crypto.

These games differ from traditional slots in three key ways:

• High Frequency: They are played fast.
• Instant Gratification: Players demand “real-time” interactions and instant settlements. That’s impossible with BTC’s 10-minute block times.
• Low Stakes: Transaction fees are too high when you are making small bets.

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For more on this topic, try playing at some Solana or Ethereum casinos. Our Blockchain casinos resource includes a curated selection of sites that make full use of the Solana blockchain’s speed.

If you are a Bitcoin maximalist, check out our list of pure Bitcoin casinos.

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