Bitcoin Transactions: Volume, Speed, Network Congestion, and Their Impact on Crypto Gaming

According to BTC transaction charts, over half a million Bitcoin transactions occur daily. What’s even more staggering is the fact that 60% of those transactions are related to iGaming. Bitcoin’s role in crypto gaming is constantly reaching new levels, especially with the rise of decentralized gaming platforms based solely on blockchain technology, which also forms the basis for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

In this article, we will explore the nature of Bitcoin transactions, how they operate, and their most important features, including speed, volume, and the challenges they face.

Understanding Bitcoin Transactions

Bitcoin transaction involves entering the amount of BTC you want to send and the address you want to send them to. There are three main elements involved in the process:

• Input — Inputs are references to the sender’s funds, that is, a Bitcoin address to which the user has previously received the funds and is now looking to send BTC from.
• Output — Output specifies the recipient’s address and amount.
• Transaction ID — Transaction ID, or TXID, includes information such as the sender’s address, the receiver’s address, and the amount of BTC being sent and used to track the transaction on the blockchain.

Miners assume a crucial role in the process. They verify and confirm these transactions by using computers with great calculating power to bundle transactions of the past 10 minutes into a new block on the blockchain. Miners are rewarded with freshly minted BTC from the fees that users pay for sending the funds, which can be seen as their commission.

Ultimately, there are two types of Bitcoin transactions: on-chain and off-chain transactions. On-chain transactions take place directly on the Bitcoin blockchain from start to finish, which makes them completely transparent and irreversible.

On the other hand, with off-chain transactions, some parts of the process will occur outside the blockchain with the help of a third-party service in charge of validating and authenticating BTC transactions. These off-chain transactions are faster and cheaper but can be less secure and not as transparent as their on-chain counterparts.

Transaction Volume Trends

According to the latest stats, 512,446 Bitcoin transactions take place daily. Looking at the numbers from last year, it’s a 97.01% increase in the volume. Looking through the data from the past five years of BTC transactions, we see that in 2017 and early 2018, there was a crypto boom, which led to the first peak of 490,644 transactions. The rise in optimism in the acceptance of Bitcoin is one of the key drivers of the surge, especially with more businesses adopting the currency, such as Microsoft and PayPal, which started accepting payments in this cryptocurrency back in 2014.

The growing interest from both institutional and retail investors has resulted in a higher volume of buy and sell transactions, making investment appeal another important driver of the uptick in BTC transaction volume.

Network Congestion: Causes and Effects

Bitcoin network congestion occurs when the number of transactions increases dramatically, thus exceeding the network’s capacity to handle all those transactions. On the Bitcoin network, there is a limited number of transactions that can be processed in every block, and it usually takes 10 minutes to add a block to the blockchain.

The main cause of network congestion is increased transaction volume. In 2022, when Yuga Labs introduced the “Otherside” metaverse platform and organized its digital land sales, the number of users trying to mint NFT lands skyrocketed, causing massive congestion on the Ethereum network, which resulted in total fees reaching $176 million in value.

When that happens, the price for processing casino transactions goes through the roof. Also, the waiting times surge for both withdrawals and deposits.

Bitcoin’s value fell 5.3% in May 2023, prompting a big sellout. The large BTC outflow forced Binance to halt withdrawals due to the congestion issue, so the platform had to pause withdrawals until the network stabilized.

At that time, casino players couldn’t use the services of Binance to exchange cryptos or use Binance wallet to make payments.

Transaction Fees and Fee Structures

We’ve already pointed out that transaction fees are charged to users for an action completed on the blockchain. There are two parts to BTC transaction fees: the cost of adding data to the blockchain and the cost of confirming the new block.

Two factors contribute to the transaction fees’ price tag — the transaction’s size or data volume and the demand for block space. The faster you want to complete the transfer, the bigger the fee. There are several transaction fee estimators out there that can calculate the expected cost. Historically, the price for a BTC transaction was between $1 and $2.50, which makes it one of the least expensive financial transactions in the market.

Scaling Solutions and Network Upgrades

Issues like network congestion and high transaction fees constantly plague Bitcoin gambling enthusiasts. These issues call for Bitcoin scaling solutions like the Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Lightning Network.

SegWit optimizes the block space by segregating transaction elements, allowing more transactions to fit into each block. This efficiency is a boon for players who rely on quick, smaller bets, as it minimizes waiting times and reduces costs.

Conversely, the Lightning Network offers a second-layer solution for rapid, off-chain transactions. It establishes bidirectional payment channels, enabling almost instant, low-fee transactions. As for crypto casinos, this means the ability to handle more bets at incredible speed.

Bitcoin Gaming and Transaction Dynamics

Bitcoin and gambling’s intricate relationship is highly complex and constantly evolving, with transaction volume and fees playing a crucial part in the relationship. Namely, with high transaction volumes at peak times when the changes in BTC value take place or while indicating growing popularity, network congestion becomes a number one issue.

It leads to delayed bet placement and withdrawal times. This sluggishness can be detrimental for players engaging in time-sensitive games or live bets. High fees can also deter small-scale gamblers or take a chunk of their earnings when cashing out, forcing players to reconsider their commitment to BTC.

Many platforms are resorting to different strategies to mitigate the influence of network congestion. Blockchain scalability is one of them, and so is the implementation of blockchain smart contracts that automate payouts, bet placements, and many other aspects of BTC gaming that speed things up considerably.

Giving players more generous BTC bonuses to award them for their loyalty and patience is another important strategy that can ensure player satisfaction rates stay at a high level.

User Strategies for Managing Network Congestion

There’s so much a casino player can do when the network gets flooded with transaction requests. Monitoring the transaction volume and avoiding making transactions at peak times can help you avoid the ailments of network congestion.

Prioritizing network traffic and reserving bandwidth for the transaction can also help. Heavy internet browsing and using VoIP services simultaneously when making a BTC gaming transaction will take away the bandwidth and slow things down considerably. Hence, it’s crucial that you save bandwidth as much as possible or improve it where possible.

Future Challenges and Solutions

With the greater adoption of Bitcoin, the number of users will inherently grow, leading to even more significant network congestion and higher fees for BTC transactions. What’s more, to comply with KYC and AML policies, crypto gaming platforms and sports books will have to verify player accounts before sanctioning the use of Bitcoin, thus further extending the waiting times, especially for withdrawals.

To address these issues, the gaming platforms will likely turn to smart contracts, and their ability to automate bet placement and instantly credit player bankrolls after each game round won. Also, allowing players to register accounts using their crypto wallet credentials will allow them to source the data directly from the crypto wallet and automatically complete the KYC policy.

Conclusion

Both players and operators must be acutely aware of how transaction speed, fees, and network congestion can influence the gaming experience and financial outcomes. Bitcoin scaling solutions like SegWit and the Lightning Network are game-changers for the industry, streamlining transactions and lowering costs. Operators embracing these technologies can significantly improve user experience, giving them a competitive advantage.

On the other hand, players need to understand transactional nuances to make smarter betting choices. Avoiding peak network times can lower the costs of transactions and make them much faster.

The sector is in constant flux and is always on the lookout for new opportunities and ways to address network congestion and improve the speed and volume of transactions. It’s up to players to stay vigilant and monitor tech developments in the field in order to leverage these solutions.

This is a sponsored press release. The publication on this page should not be viewed as an endorsement by CoinGuides.org. CoinGuides is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused and we are not responsible for the accuracy or quality of the content on this page. We highly recommend all readers to conduct their own research before investing in the company, products or services mentioned in the above article.