The crypto world might be betting on Bitcoin, but the rest of the world is betting… using Bitcoin.
According to a study published last week by marketing data firm SEMrush, Bitcoin casino Freebitco.in is the third-largest Internet gambling platform in the world, in terms of global traffic over the last year, beating out popular brands such as Netkeiba and Hollywoodbets in monthly visits.
On average, more than 41 million people placed bets on Freebitco.in every month from August 2018 to July 2019, according to SEMrush’s data. That figure is only surpassed by the Mexican online casino Caliente.mx with 71.5 million visits per month, and the popular BET365 with a whopping 194.3 million monthly visits.
Freebitco.in has gained considerable popularity for its ease of use and extravagant promotions. Perhaps the most notorious promotion held by the site occurred last August, when Freebitco.in offered up a lambo through a “golden ticket” contest which users entered into by making BTC deposits.
"Owning a Lamborghini is a crypto enthusiast's dream, and we could not think of a better prize to reward our users for supporting the novel technology of cryptocurrency through its ups and downs," Freebitco.in CEO “wetsuit” (yes, “wetsuit”) said in a statement.
According to the Bitcoin casino’s own figures, the site has more than 31 million registered users, and the platform has distributed more than 194,782 BTC in prizes.
The SEMrush study provided further insights about the online gambling industry generally: Almost half of the traffic of online-betting websites throughout the world comes from direct visitors. Curiously, the second-biggest source of traffic are referral links (38.9 percent), while social networks and paid shares account for only about 1 percent.
While traffic is distributed around the world, Americans are the most active betters and account for just over 10 percent of the total Internet gambling market. The United States is followed by Brazil, Japan, and the U.K. The Latin American country with the most Internet gamblers is Mexico, accounting for 5.69 percent of the world’s total.
All in all, the data serves to answer an important question for the crypto industry: Is there a real use case for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin? You bet.