Specialized payments provider Paysafe has published its definitive benchmarking study, “All the Ways Players Pay: Crypto Edition,” revealing that an overwhelming 83% of active digital sports bettors in the United States desire utilizing cryptocurrency to fund their online wagering accounts.
The data highlights a widening convergence between mainstream sports prediction and digital asset ownership.
State Level Crypto Uptake and Fragmented Permission Tracks
The comprehensive consumer research compiled detailed survey feedback from 2,550 active bettors and individuals intending to place real money sports wagers over the next 12 months. Financial transaction telemetry shows that while approximately 30% of the general adult population in the United States currently owns one or more digital tokens, that asset ownership metric climbs to a substantial 64% among active sports bettors.
The real world application of this payment demand is actively demonstrated within Wyoming and Colorado—two pioneering jurisdictions where local regulators explicitly permit cryptocurrency cashier deposits. Within those markets, 45% of Wyoming respondents and 59% of Colorado respondents confirmed they have actively utilized digital tokens to fund their sports betting accounts. Interestingly, while these two states recorded the highest actual usage data, their general interest levels were the lowest surveyed at 75% and 76% respectively.
Conversely, appetite for crypto funding peaked at a massive 92% in New York, a jurisdiction where digital asset deposits are strictly prohibited by state gaming boards. This pattern strongly indicates that commercial utilization figures would scale rapidly if the Empire State updated its restrictive cashier rules.
The current landscape remains highly fragmented across state borders. While traditional crypto deposits are barred across the majority of states, including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, select territories like Illinois and Virginia feature regulatory frameworks that allow operators to secure specialized transaction waivers.
Within these specific regions, alongside Kentucky and New Hampshire, tier one brand DraftKings has successfully secured regulatory permission to support hybrid crypto to cash deposit rails. This integration mirrors the architecture of decentralized prediction markets like Polymarket, where users trade exclusively via web3 tokens, which has recently begun onboarding waitlisted US consumers following a four year absence.
Federal Trajectories and Commercial Cashier Overhauls
The massive consumer demand for alternative currency tools operates alongside a noticeably more permissive regulatory stance emanating from federal financial monitoring agencies. Under the current leadership of Michael Selig, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has advanced multiple innovation friendly policies, recently reassuring registered Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) that they can legally accept asset backed stablecoins to satisfy margin requirements for derivatives transactions.
This permissive model was largely set in motion by former CFTC commissioner Caroline Pham, who now serves as Chief Legal Officer for fintech infrastructure giant MoonPay.
Notably, MoonPay serves as the underlying technical engine powering Paysafe’s proprietary “Pay with Crypto” iGaming software suite. The payment utility went live in April 2026, enabling licensed interactive gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) brands to seamlessly ingest popular digital tokens including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Coin directly within standard mobile cashier apps.
Paysafe‘s study concludes that as the broader consumer asset landscape expands to encompass more than 10 secondary altcoins, operators who proactively upgrade their checkout systems to integrate stablecoin payment gateways will capture an immediate, structural competitive edge over legacy brands.
