Recently, BetOnline Sportsbook has hit the bullseye with its selection of cryptocurrencies – at least comparatively speaking. This year alone, the operator has added five or six coins to its online bet funding menu – so many that it has had to overhaul its entire banking page.
(It’s now a drop-down menu instead of an icon-filled splash screen. The coin logos are finally showing up in full color, too, which looks pretty sharp in contrast to the previous theme’s gray monochrome.)
But we suspect BetOnline isn’t done yet. If they keep up their pace throughout 2022, we could see another half dozen coins – or more! – added to index.
Of course, we don’t really know why BetOnline – or any of the top legit online sportsbooks – choose to add the crypto coins they offer.
For example, Bovada added Tether (USDT) to its banking menu about a month ago (which is actually a bit odd considering we can’t really imagine most people being that keen on using a stablecoin – let alone an ERC). 20 stablecoin – to bet on sports online).
But Tether is the most popular stablecoin and is currently in the top 5 cryptocurrency assets (ranked third at the time of this writing), so it makes sense at the hype level if it doesn’t make any sense at all.
But BetOnline isn’t nearly as restrictive as Bovada Sportsbook when it comes to expanding cryptocurrency support. Keep in mind that prior to May 2021, Bovada didn’t even consider Ethereum as a crypto betting option.
Whatever metrics these brands use, they are clearly different metrics.
And regardless of the “why,” BetOnline (and with it, sister site SportsBetting AG) is well on its way to becoming its own crypto exchange. At least more or less.
The site is obviously not worried about taking the risks that come with backing new and/or trending crypto altcoins (as evidenced by their latest option, which for some reason is the ridiculous ApeCoin crypto thing with Bored Ape Yacht Club brand), and that means they’ll probably continue to do just that.
So we have to ask ourselves: What’s next?
Well, BetOnline won’t tell us. In fact, we didn’t even bother to ask. This whole crypto thing is very secret, after all. (Not really. We just don’t think BetOnline itself knows which coin will come down the slide next, and besides, speculation is at the heart of betting. So here we are.)
Anyhow, to get an idea of which cryptocurrency(s) BetOnline might be rolling out the red carpet for next, we’ve listed the current top 50 cryptocurrencies per CoinMarketCap right below.
The coins already accepted by BetOnline are listed in bold italicswhile those we think should make it to the final version are highlighted in strong green. And for the sake of simplicity, we limit our selection to the 10 most likely candidates:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Tether (USDT)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- USD coin (USDC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Solana (SUN)
- earth moon)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Polka Dot (DOT)
- TerraUSD (UST)
- Binance USD (BUSD)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- NEAR protocol (NEAR)
- Kronos (CRO)
- Dai (DAI)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Tron (TRX)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- chain link (LINK)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- FTX Token (FTT)
- ONE BUT LEO (LEO)
- Monero (XMR)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- ApeCoin (APE)
- VeChain (vocational training)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Ivy (HBAR)
- Internet Computer (ICP)
- Filecoin (FIL)
- Elrond (EGLD)
- Theta Network (THETA)
- The Sandbox (SAND)
- THOR Chain (RUNE)
- Phantom (FTM)
- Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Klaytn (KLAY)
- Pancake Swap (CAKE)
- EOS (EOS)
- AAVE (AAVE)
- Zcash (ZEC)
So here is our basic logic for the choices we made:
First, we don’t think more stablecoins will break through. BetOnline already accepts USDT and USDC and that’s two more than enough. So there are new stablecoins.
Second, wrapped coins — like WBTC — are out too. At least for the purposes of online sports betting, they are redundant.
After that, the water gets a little cloudy. The coins selected must strike the right balance between marketability, established notoriety, future relevance, investment potential and similar intangibles.
And barring a few very obvious prices like Terra LUNA, they probably need to trade in the low double-digits at most. The idea of buying even a fraction of a coin still causes mental distress for people. You want a lot of coins. We know we do.
So this is what influences our selection.
Of course, to be a little more specific, we’re going to be… a little more specific. Our rationale for each possible choice is, very briefly, as follows:
earth moon) – Terra is the ranked 8th coin and the only top 10 cryptocurrency not currently accepted by BetOnline. Despite the hefty price tag of $90 per LUNA, we believe this is not only on the horizon, but likely to be the next cryptocurrency powered by sports betting.
Polka Dot (DOT) – Polkadot has been established as a top 20 cryptocurrency for some time. It’s now down to 12th place, and at just $18.25 per DOT, it’s as close to a safe bet as it gets. The Polkadot betting support achieves almost even odds with LUNA.
Kronos (CRO) – Cronos is the #19 crypto coin, we’ve heard about it here and there on the internet and it’s trading at $0.41 per CRO. It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it?
Dai (DAI) – DAI is the 20th-ranked cryptocurrency, and everything that applies to Cronos applies here. Except for the pun. So let’s see. Okay: Crypto will never be DAI! Wait, that doesn’t make any sense…
Tron (TRX) – Tron is a popular, well-established crypto coin and currently ranks 22nd on the big list. We’re frankly surprised that BetOnline doesn’t already accept TRX. Also, at $0.07 per coin, it is a good buy for beginners who want “more” bang for their buck. Expect Tron bets at BetOnline sooner rather than later.
Cosmos (ATOM) – As far as cryptocurrency naming conventions go, this Cosmos ATOM deal hits the spot. It is also the 23rd crypto asset, trading at $23.30 per token. Expect ATOM betting to take off in a big way in the near future.
Uniswap (UNI) – You can’t read a crypto blog or crypto news feed without hearing a lot about Uniswap. Coming in at #25 as a crypto and trading at $8.85 a piece is UNI. And since this is a sportsbook, we need to do this as soon as possible. The pun alone will be incredible.
VeChain (vocational training) – Like UNI, VET will work for all kinds of sports puns. But VeChain – ranked 34th overall – is also enjoying great popularity, and VET coins are trading for as little as $0.05 each.
Tezos (XTZ) – XTZ ranks 45th overall, and we’ve actually been seeing hints of it across the cryptosphere for a while. It seems to be something and you can buy Tezos coins for $3.00 each. Talk about real ecstasy!
EOS (EOS) – At number 48, EOS seems like a generally safe bet. We don’t know exactly why, but it just feels right. Anyway, EOS coins trade for just $2.50 each, so that helps the optics a bit too.
Now you might notice that we left out what should be an obvious frontrunner: Monero (XMR).
Although Monero is one of the oldest crypto assets out there – and although it offers arguably the best anonymity and privacy features of any cryptocurrency in the world – it is never accepted at BetOnline.
Or, by the way, at any other legal online sports betting provider.
Why?
Because the stuff is poisonous through no fault of your own.
Monero was the original cryptocurrency bugbear, portrayed for years by mainstream media as fueling a financial nightmare. It’s the cryptocurrency of choice for society’s worst scumbags, and now it glows in the dark™.
While operations like BetOnline are 100% legal and legitimate, simply supporting Monero requires trouble.
And that’s unfortunate. A perfectly viable and harmless crypto asset, Monero has been tainted with the weirdest Dark Web™ nonsense imaginable.
You definitely have it. That’s our list, and these are our best guesses. Based on pretty much nothing, of course.
We’re excited to see how the predictions pan out.