FanDuel Organized the First Fantasy Sports Tournament with Bitcoin Prizes

It seems that the cryptocurrency craze is not going to stop anytime soon, especially in the gambling industry. Almost every week we get to report on new innovative ways to implement cryptocurrencies in online casinos, from the first Bitcoin lottery to the first daily fantasy sports (DFS) tournament that offers Bitcoin prizes. Yes, even fantasy sports have jumped on the Bitcoin gambling bandwagon.

Not that we are complaining. We think that cryptocurrencies are the future of online gambling. But we must admit that seeing a DFS operator experimenting with cryptocurrencies was a little bit surprising. So, who was behind the first DFS Bitcoin tournament and what were the prizes?

The answer to the first question is FanDuel. This operator is a well-known name in the fantasy sports industry. As for the prizes, FanDuel gave away three Bitcoins in total. Two Bitcoins for the first place, half a coin for the second, and a quarter each for the third and fourth place.

Tournament numbers

To no surprise, the tournament was a huge hit with the players. The entry for the first Bitcoin DFS tournament was $3, and prize pool, when converted to the dollar currency, was just around $45,000. There were a little bit over 42,000 participants, which earned FanDuel over $127,000. So, it’s safe to say that the Bitcoin experiment was a success. And that’s what this was, an experiment.

FanDuel hasn’t come forward about their future plans with this format. However, it’s no secret that they are struggling to stay afloat for the last couple of years. So, maybe this was their attempt to find the new source of revenue. Regardless if the Bitcoin DFS tournaments become a new thing or not, we are pleased to see that Bitcoin is cementing its place in the online gambling scene.