New research from Paysafe has found that 83% of active and prospective US sports bettors are interested in using cryptocurrency to fund their online wagers.
The findings come from Paysafe’s ‘All the Ways Players Pay: Crypto Edition’ report, which gathered survey responses from 2,550 individuals who are either active bettors or plan to bet within the next 12 months.
The report covered participants from multiple states including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia, alongside Wyoming and Colorado.
Wyoming and Colorado are among the states where crypto deposits are currently permitted, with 45% and 59% of respondents in those states respectively confirming they had used that option.
Across the US as a whole, the report found that approximately 64% of active sports bettors already own some form of cryptocurrency.
That figure is notably higher than the broader adult population, where around 30% of Americans own one or more cryptocurrencies.
Despite crypto being available in Wyoming and Colorado, those two states recorded the lowest levels of interest in the survey, at 75% and 76% respectively.
The strongest appetite was found in New York, where 92% of respondents expressed interest in using crypto to fund their sports bets, despite deposits currently being banned there.
Paysafe suggests this could indicate that adoption figures seen in Wyoming and Colorado would be significantly higher if the same rules applied in New York.
Illinois and Virginia allow regulators to grant crypto deposit permissions to operators on a case-by-case basis, and DraftKings has been permitted to support crypto-to-cash deposits in both states, as well as in Kentucky and New Hampshire.
The report also noted the growing role of cryptocurrency in prediction markets, with Polymarket users trading exclusively in crypto following the platform’s recent rollout to waitlisted US users after a four-year absence.
On the regulatory front, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Michael Selig’s leadership has taken a more sympathetic approach to crypto innovation, reassuring Futures Commission Merchants that they can accept stablecoins as margin for derivatives transactions.
Former CFTC chair Caroline Pham is noted as having played a significant role in beginning that more permissive regulatory trajectory before her departure.
Pham is now chief legal officer at MoonPay, a fintech company that has powered Paysafe’s own ‘Pay with Crypto’ solution, which was launched in April 2026.
That product was designed to help iGaming and DFS brands allow customers to fund player accounts using their preferred cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin, Ethereum and USD Coin identified as the three most popular options.
Survey participants reported owning more than 10 other digital assets beyond those three, highlighting the increasingly complex landscape operators must navigate.
Paysafe suggests that operators who upgrade their cashier solutions to accommodate crypto now will gain “a competitive edge” as demand continues to grow across the country.
