2019 is set to be an interesting year in the online casino world, as refinements in many existing technologies as well as new technological advances come to the fore and are better integrated into the online casino experience.

Virtual reality on the way

At the top of the list is one of the most rapidly developing technologies around, virtual reality. As the all-immersive nature of virtual reality experiences becomes ever more sophisticated, accessible and affordable, it is likely that more and more online casinos will seek to integrate virtual reality into their gaming offers.

For table games and slots, companies like Oculus Rift are already well on the way to being able to offer players a complete virtual reality experience. At the same time, online peer to peer casino gambling will take on completely new dimensions in the virtual reality space, allowing players to both see and interact with each other on the online casino floor and while playing table games and slots.

Enhanced security measures

When it comes to exchanging goods and services online, especially when it comes to your money, security has long been a major concern. As hackers grow ever more subtle and savvy, and major data breaches becoming a regular occurrence ever for some of the world’s largest companies, Facebook and Amazon come to mind, advances in online security are set to be a major factor influencing how online casinos provide their players with the best possible online gambling experience.

As casino slot games goes mobile, simple security solutions such as fingerprint scans for login are likely to become ever more commonplace throughout 2019.

Just as you can use your fingerprint to unlock your iPhone, a number of major online casino and sportsbook operators are actively looking into the possibility of using fingerprint scans to allow players to log in instantly in a fashion much more secure than the repeated typing in of usernames and passwords.

Obviously, with online casino gambling being a global business, a number of hurdles are still in place, many of which concern different states and national blocks, like the European Union’s, views on how your personal, biometric data is handled and stored. It’s one thing to use your fingerprint to unlock your iPhone, it’s another to ask a private company to keep a record of that fingerprint to validate your login.

For the most part though, it seems that 2019 is likely the year in which early movers will attempt to deploy fingerprint scanning security features to make players lives that much easier.

Further growth of cryptocurrency

When it comes to cryptocurrency, 2018 was a wild ride. From highs of over $18,000 for Bitcoin in mid-December 2017 to lows of around $3,300 in December 2018, Bitcoin and all the other cryptocurrencies that ride its coattails have seen a truly wild ride. That said, cryptocurrency isn’t likely to just go away. The security and anonymity that blockchain based cryptocurrencies provide continue to make them attractive to gamblers the world over.

2019 then is likely to see the further expansion and uptake of cryptocurrencies into the online casino gaming space.

Enhanced live dealer games

Live dealer online gambling, already growing in popularity by leaps and bounds, is another area of the online casino space likely to see significant developments in 2019. As the quality of the live dealer experience continues to improve, casinos are beginning to experiment with ever newer variants, including moving live dealers out of the studio and into a real world, live casino floor.

At the same time, tie-ins with virtual reality technology are likely to hit the market as the year goes on.