Buying a Bit(Coin) of a Horse through Crypto? The Use of Blockchain in Horse Racing

When most of us think of the use of blockchain in different fields, our minds might not immediately go to horseracing. After all, horseracing is a legacy sport that is very much tied to centuries-old financial systems while blockchain-based products crypto is a newer asset class that appears to be at odds with these systems.

However, a close look will show that blockchain is indeed having its moment in the horseracing field. Here are a few of the ways it is being applied:

Betting 

Anyone familiar with the world of horse racing will tell you that betting has been very closely linked to the sport for decades. All the major races in the world have people placing wagers, whether online or in person. However, blockchain’s involvement in horse racing has seen a change in the currency used. More specifically, cryptocurrency is becoming more widely used to place wagers as opposed to fiat currency. These days, you’re just as likely to see someone betting with Bitcoin or Dogecoin as with dollars or euros. 

Many are opting for online casinos to meet their needs and looking for crypto sports betting sites of all types. There are several reasons for this development, including the chance to make even more money from a bet if the value of the crypto in question increases. Besides this, crypto transactions are known to be faster and cost less in terms of fees. And while some cryptocurrencies are volatile, horse racing fans can also turn to stablecoins and enjoy the same level of stability offered by traditional fiat currencies, with all the aforementioned perks of blockchain betting. 

Horse Ownership

Many horseracing fans would have dreamed of owning their own horse at some point. While this is certainly a valid dream, a single horse costs tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Needless to say, it’s out of reach for most people. The good news is that blockchain technology is being used to democratize access to horse ownership through a process called fractionalization.

Basically, ownership of a horse is split into smaller pieces and sold as blockchain-based assets like NFTs and crypto. If a person buys an NFT, for example, they can buy 1% of the ownership of a horse. This reduces the financial requirement from tens of thousands of dollars to only hundreds. The funds raised from the sale of the assets are used to care for the animal and as it competes and generates profit, this is split across all the asset holders. Horse ownership has been marred by classist restrictions for centuries but now, blockchain is changing the landscape.

Data Management 

While horseracing is exciting from the outside looking in, it is actually a lot of work, especially when it comes to data management. The horse’s vitals need to be checked constantly, its food must be monitored, its training planned, and so on. All of this data needs to not only be properly recorded but easily referenced. Blockchain, once again, makes this process easier as information stored on its distributed ledgers cannot be altered to removed. This means that a horse’s vital information can be stored forever and easily referenced.

Considering the number of people needed to train a single house, the fact that it can be sold, and the multiple people who can own it through tokenization, having this data always accessible is convenient, to say the least.

Investment Tokenization and Finance Access

Besides investing directly in the horses themselves, another way people invest in horseracing is through setting up training centres, and clinics, selling equipment, organizing races, and whatnot. And, just like buying the horses, this has a high financial requirement. In some cases, it is cheaper to simply buy a horse. 

But this is where blockchain saves the day again through investment tokenization. The Web3 space is full of investors who come together to collectively own medium-to-large-scale investments. Through crypto and NFTs, they may invest in any of these ventures, sharing the risk as well as the profit and creating more access.

Then there is Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which grants consumers access to financial services that they otherwise might be shut out of. These include insurance, loans, and much more. By leveraging DeFi, more people can set up businesses in the horseracing sector, making money in the material world while being powered by blockchain.