Lately, BetOnline Sportsbook has been killing it – at least, comparatively speaking – with their cryptocurrency selection. This year alone, the operator has added five or six coins to their online bet funding menu – so many that they’ve had to rework their entire banking page.
(It’s now a dropdown menu instead of an icon-filled splash screen. The coin logos are also finally presented in full color, which looks pretty sharp contrasted against the gray monochrome of the previous design.)
But we suspect BetOnline’s not finished yet. If they keep up their existing pace through all of 2022, we could see another half dozen coins – or more! – added to the index.
Of course, we don’t actually know what makes BetOnline – or any of the best legal online sportsbooks – choose to add the crypto coins they do.
For example, Bovada just added Tether (USDT) to their banking menu about a month ago (which is actually a bit strange, given that we can’t really imagine most people being all that interested in using a stablecoin – much less an ERC-20 stablecoin – to bet sports online).
But Tether is the most popular stablecoin, and it’s currently a top five cryptocurrency asset (ranked third at the time of this article), so it makes sense on the hype level if it makes sense no other way whatsoever.
But BetOnline isn’t nearly as restrictive as Bovada Sportsbook when it comes to broadening their support for crypto. Remember, before May 2021, Bovada didn’t even include Ethereum as a crypto betting option.
So whatever metrics these brands use, they’re clearly different metrics.
And regardless of the “why,” the fact is that BetOnline (and, by extension, sister site SportsBetting AG) is well on its way to becoming its own crypto exchange. More or less, anyway.
The site is clearly unworried about taking the risks inherent in supporting new and/or trendy crypto altcoins (as evidenced by their latest option, which is the ridiculous Bored Ape Yacht Club-branded ApeCoin crypto thing for some reason), and that means that they’re probably going to keep doing exactly that.
So, we’ve got to ask: What’s next?
Well, BetOnline won’t tell us. In fact, we didn’t even bother asking. This whole crypto thing, after all, is very hush-hush. (Not really. We just don’t think BetOnline itself knows which coin is next in the chute, and speculation is at the heart of betting, besides. So here we are.)
Anyway, to get an idea of which cryptocurrency or cryptocurrencies BetOnline might roll out the red carpet for next, we’ve listed the current top 50 crypto coins per CoinMarketCap directly below.
The coins BetOnline already accepts are listed in bold italics, while the ones we think ought to make the final cut are highlighted in bold green. And for simplicity’s sake, we’re limiting our choices to the 10 most likely contenders:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Tether (USDT)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Solana (SOL)
- Terra (LUNA)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- TerraUSD (UST)
- Binance USD (BUSD)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
- Cronos (CRO)
- Dai (DAI)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Tron (TRX)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- FTX Token (FTT)
- UNUS SED LEO (LEO)
- Monero (XMR)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- ApeCoin (APE)
- VeChain (VET)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Hedera (HBAR)
- Internet Computer (ICP)
- Filecoin (FIL)
- Elrond (EGLD)
- Theta Network (THETA)
- The Sandbox (SAND)
- THORChain (RUNE)
- Fantom (FTM)
- Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Klaytn (KLAY)
- Pancake Swap (CAKE)
- EOS (EOS)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Zcash (ZEC)
So, here’s our basic logic for choosing as we’ve chosen:
First of all, we don’t think any more stablecoins are going to make the cut. BetOnline already accepts USDT and USDC, and that’s two more than enough. So new stablecoins are out.
Secondly, wrapped coins – like WBTC – are also out. They’re redundant, at least for the purposes of online sports betting.
After that, the water gets a bit murkier. The coins chosen have to strike the right balance between marketability, established notoriety, future relevancy, investment potential, and similar intangibles.
And outside of a few super obvious ones like Terra LUNA, they’ll probably need to be trading in the low double-digit dollars at the maximum. People still psychologically struggle with the idea of buying a fraction of a coin. They want lots of coins. We know we do.
So, that’s what’s informed our picks.
Of course, to get a bit more specific, we’ll…get a bit more specific. Our rationale for each potential selection is – very briefly – as follows:
Terra (LUNA) – Terra is the 8th-ranked coin and the only top 10 crypto that BetOnline doesn’t currently accept. Despite its high price of $90 per LUNA, we think this one isn’t just on the horizon, we think it’s probably the next crypto the sportsbook will support.
Polkadot (DOT) – Polkadot has been established as a top 20 crypto coin for some time. Now, it’s climbed all the way up to 12th, and at just $18.25 per DOT, it’s as close to a sure thing as it gets. Polkadot betting support is almost pulling even odds with LUNA.
Cronos (CRO) – Cronos is the 19th-ranked crypto coin, we’ve heard about it here and there over the wire, and it’s trading at $0.41 per CRO. It’s only a matter of time, right?
Dai (DAI) – DAI is the 20th-ranked crypto, and everything that applies to Cronos applies here. Except for the pun. So, let’s see. Okay: Crypto will never DAI! Wait, that doesn’t make sense…
Tron (TRX) – Tron is a popular, established crypto coin, and it’s currently ranked 22nd on the big board. We’re surprised BetOnline doesn’t already accept TRX, frankly. Plus, at $0.07 per coin, it’s a good buy for beginners who want “more” for their money. Expect Tron betting at BetOnline sooner than later.
Cosmos (ATOM) – As far as crypto naming conventions go, this Cosmos ATOM business is a home run. Plus, it’s the 23rd-ranked crypto asset and is trading at $23.30 per token. Count on ATOM betting to blow up huge in the near future.
Uniswap (UNI) – You can’t read any crypto blog or crypto news feed without hearing plenty about Uniswap. As the 25th-ranked crypto and trading at $8.85 per, UNI is coming. And because this is a sportsbook we’re talking about, we need it to happen ASAP. The wordplay alone will be incredible.
VeChain (VET) – Like UNI, VET will work for all kinds of sports puns. But VeChain – ranked 34th overall – is also plenty popular, and VET coins are trading at only $0.05 each.
Tezos (XTZ) – XTZ is ranked 45th overall, and we’ve actually been seeing references to this across the cryptosphere for some time, now. It appears to be something, and you can buy Tezos coins for $3.00 a pop. Talk about real ecstasy!
EOS (EOS) – Ranked 48th, EOS seems like a generally safe bet. We’re not sure exactly why, but it just feels right. Anyway, EOS coins are trading at just $2.50 apiece, so that helps the optics a bit, too.
Now, you might notice that we left off what should be an obvious top-tier contender: Monero (XMR).
Despite being one of the oldest crypto assets out there – and despite having arguably the best anonymity and privacy features of any cryptocurrency in the world – Monero will never be accepted at BetOnline.
Or, for that matter, at any other legal online sportsbook.
Why?
Because, through no fault of its own, the stuff is toxic.
Monero was the original crypto bogeyman, framed by the mainstream media for years as being literal financial nightmare fuel. It’s the crypto of choice for all the worst dregs of society, and now it Glows In The Dark™.
While operations like BetOnline are 100% legal and legitimate, simply supporting Monero is asking for trouble.
And that’s unfortunate. Monero is a perfectly viable and harmless crypto asset, and its been smeared by the most comical Dark Web™ nonsense imaginable.
At any rate, there you have it. That’s our list, and those are out best guesses. Based, of course, on pretty much nothing.
We’re interested to see how the predictions pan out.
