After the Crypto Crash Are Slots Your Best Bet?

Did you hear that? It was the echo from the crypto crash from last May. The collapse was so big that experts think the cryptocurrency market will never be quite the same. Over a matter of a few months, crypto investors lost a combined $2 trillion. That’s a lot of life savings!

Cryptocurrency prices have been dropping slowly since the end of March, following a steep rise in inflation that has choked off post-pandemic economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic. The two biggest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum registered losses, as did smaller ones like Binance Coin, Dogecoin and Cardano ADA.

Information obtained from statista.com

Tether, the largest stablecoin and a pillar in the digital asset space received a blow that made its value plummet below $1. This raised huge concerns since Tether plays an important role in the foundation of the crypto market. Acting just like a bank, Tether holds reserves in other cryptocurrencies and if it fails, it could lead to an avalanche of huge proportions.

And then, in early May, the cryptocurrency news were set aflame when yet another stablecoin called Terra, once valued at more than $50 billion, plummeted down and became effectively worthless. This catastrophic failure sent shockwaves rippling throughout the crypto market, dragging all the other cryptocurrencies down, including Bitcoin, the strongest of the lot.

The news headlines were full of crypto billionaires who lost fortunes. Among them were big names associated with cryptocurrency trading like Samuel Bankman-Fried, Brian Armstrong, Mike Novogratz (google about his crypto tattoo), Changpeng Zhao and others.

Their combined losses amount to about $114 billion since November 2021. 

In a recent blog post, Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong explained why his company now needs to lay off a percentage of the workforce, stating that the company’s employee costs are too high “to effectively manage this uncertain market.”

Investor Mike Novogratz, the chief executive of crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, made several statements following the losses he suffered, stating that the crypto crisis is an indication of a looming recession and that Terra was a big idea that failed.

But the crypto crash didn’t affect just the billionaires’ wallet. Many small investors lost money and life savings.

And while the crypto crash slowed down in mid-May, the market shows no sign of returning to its former glory. Many are now calling this the “crypto winter”.

This major event has shown how volatile the cryptocurrency market is. Or to put it in one simple phrase, when inflation rises, crypto tumbles, just like that. This makes investing in crypto a very risky business, or a gamble if you please. But is it similar to playing slots? Here at SlotSource, we decided to find out.

Between the volatility of slot games and that of cryptocurrency, you might find it difficult to decide which one carries the most risk. Well, the truth is that while the two activities have similarities, there is also a lot that makes them different. For example, online slot games definitely have the upper hand in the fun department. Online casino slots are designed to entertain, so what you take home when playing your favourite game cannot be replicated entirely while trading crypto. We said not entirely because there are many people out there who find trading fun.

And while playing slot games is definitely not an investment, it still gives slot fans a lot of satisfaction.

Buying into crypto is easy as playing a slot, if not easier. There are many trading apps that allow you to access the cryptocurrency exchange and invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Binance Coin or other cryptocurrencies of your choice from your mobile or any device. This ease gave rise to a new phenomenon – social trading. The younger generation are picking up trading to pass the time. They buy and sell cryptocurrencies and stocks in small quantities, just like gambling small stakes on a slot. Social trading is causing an investments revolution, as millions of young people use trading apps like eToro, tastyworks and AvaTrade to invest in stocks or crypto.

A few paragraphs above, I mentioned the differences between online slot games and cryptocurrencies. But hey, they have one thing in common – Online slots and crypto investments are both volatile, meaning that you cannot expect similar results from different sessions (or in the case of crypto, different times).

Following this train of thought, I decided to invest $10 in a popular cryptocurrency and play $10 on a trending slot, then compare the results. Just so you know, this test was done purely for fun out of curiosity and is by no means financial advice!

For the sake of my argument, a week ago I decided to take a gamble and I invested €10 in a cryptocurrency. After a few hours of research, I decided to buy ADA.

Information obtained from statista.com

Ada is a digital currency operating on the Cardano blockchain technology. It can be used as a secure exchange of value anywhere in the world. Since it is a decentralised cryptocurrency, it does not require a third party to mediate the exchange. ADA is named after Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician and daughter of the poet Lord Byron who is recognized as the first computer programmer.

My €10 gave me 21 Cardano ADA tokens. Buying them was super simple – I just opened my Revolut app, navigated to the crypto area, selected Cardano ADA and made my purchase.

Fast forward to one week later, and my investment was already losing value. If I were to sell my tokens on the day I wrote this article, I would have gotten just €8.97c. Or an RTP of 89.7% if we’re comparing this to slots.

At the time of writing, this didn’t feel like a very good investment.

With one eye on the crypto investment, I turned the other eye on Reel Rush 2, a funky slot from Netent with plenty of bonus features and a theoretical Return to Player (or RTP) of 95.53%.

Reel Rush 2 is a medium to high variance slot that offers fast-paced gameplay on 5 colourful reels. It has up to 3,125 bet ways and features Wild Substitutions, Random Features, Re-Spins, Free Spins and Super Free Spins.

Borrowing elements from social gaming, Reel Rush 2 looks and feels like a social app. The game packs no less than 8 random features and 2 different Free Spins games (one with an Increasing Multiplier) that combine to create an adrenaline rush to the senses.

For my test, I decided to play 50 spins at 0.20c per spin. At the end of the session, I was left with €4.44.

That’s a tragic loss of more than half my initial money! Of course, one has to take into account that slots aren’t designed to average out after just 50 spins and you would need to be EXTREMELY lucky to land a profit within such parameters.

Experience tells us that usually, slots average out over time and their theoretical RTP is usually very close to what the providers claim, though this can't be guaranteed for any individual. Our test was too brief to demonstrate this, but it was still fun to see how far we can go with €10. 

However, for crypto, there’s absolutely no guarantee what can happen to your investment, big or small. There are so many factors that affect the market stability that it’s very difficult to predict an outcome. Meanwhile, I’ll let my €10 investment run its course, and if the markets trend upwards again, I could be smiling.

Slots provide more than just a chance to win money. They are games created to provide entertainment to those who play them. Games like Starburst, Book of Dead, Bonanza, Fire Joker and Gonzo’s Quest are among the most popular because people find them fun. Other types of games, like Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune and Hall of Gods, apart from having exquisite gameplay, offer also the possibility of hitting a jackpot on any spin. These progressive jackpot slots in fact often have prizes amounting to millions.

To keep within the $10 theory, you don’t need to bet your $10 on one single spin. Slots like the ones mentioned above give you the ability to play with very low stakes. For example, if you play with 10c per spin, you can make your $10 last very long ¬ especially if you hit some good wins along the way which will add to your bankroll. 

So, if you were to bet $10 on one of your favourite slots, what you expect in return isn’t just the chance to win, but also the satisfaction obtained from the gameplay, such as the thrill of hitting a bonus round or the excitement when you manage to activate a game feature that involves you more in the game you’re playing. 

One just needs to remember that when playing slots, wins are never guaranteed. So, if you start playing with that premise in mind, then you can focus on the fun aspect of the slot game – if you hit the big win, then that’s added value for you.

Apart from how attractive a game is, when choosing your slot games there are two technical aspects to consider: Volatility and RTP.

RTP, short for Return to Player, is an indication of the potential amount of money that a player can get back from their stakes. For example, if you’re playing a slot with an RTP of 96.1% (that’s Starburst btw) then this would mean the game can theoretically pay 96.1% back to you, with the casino taking 3.9% as their cut. However, as I said, the RTP rating is only an indication. You can’t expect the same return every time you play a slot. Where’s the fun in that?

This is where volatility comes into play. Volatility (or Variance) is the frequency at which the game pays out and can be low, medium or high. Low volatility games pay out small amounts but do it often. High volatility games can pay out larger sums of money, but less frequently. Medium volatility slot games strike a balance between the two.

Many players prefer to play slots with high RTP or Return to Player. They feel they have better chances at increasing their bankroll. The truth is, it’s a gamble. The complex algorithms at the heart of every licensed slot game ensure that slot games are fair towards both the players that play them and the game studios that create them. These algorithms generate totally random outcomes but are affected by a game’s RTP (Return to Player) and the volatility of the slot, which can be low, medium or high.

Needless to say, all players out there hope that the slots they choose to play will pay them back as generously as possible. So, high RTP games with medium volatility sound like the best choice for players that are looking to have fun without going bankrupt.

Then again, it all depends on one’s preference. Low volatility games will go down well with players with smaller bankrolls while players with larger bankrolls looking to strike a big win will want higher volatility slots.