Bobby Shell is Vice President of Marketing at Voltage, a leading Lightning Network Payment Provider, where he is focused on helping iGaming businesses enable instant, low-cost global settlement on Bitcoin and stablecoins over the Lightning Network.
In this CasinoRank interview, Shell discusses the growing importance of payment infrastructure in iGaming. From declining deposits and reliance on payment rails to faster withdrawals and the rise of Lightning and stablecoins, he explores how payment resilience and payout speed are becoming key drivers of player acquisition and retention. He also highlights their impact on the overall gaming experience.
What is the single biggest trend that will define the iGaming industry over the next 12 months, and why?
Bobby Shell: The card rails are turning against the industry. Visa and Mastercard tightened gambling-merchant categorization in late 2025. Issuer-level declines are climbing, while chargebacks continue to make the category more expensive to serve.
At the same time, new state laws are extending liability to payment processors. As a result, processors are de-risking across the market, including operators running fully compliant programs.
The defining trend of the next 12 months is operators realizing that how money moves decides who acquires players, who keeps them, and who wakes up to a broken deposit funnel.
Which emerging technology, strategy, or market shift is currently underestimated but has the potential to significantly impact operators and players?
Bobby Shell: Stablecoins on Bitcoin rails. Tether is bringing native USDT to Bitcoin via the RGB protocol Lightning-compatible, near-instant settlement, fees under a cent. Lightning-settled gaming flow already hit roughly a billion dollars a month in the first half of 2026, and most of the industry still thinks of it as niche.
What’s underestimated is the player-experience math: a withdrawal that lands in seconds instead of days isn’t a payments upgrade, it’s a retention weapon. Players screenshot fast payouts. They don’t screenshot a three-day ACH.
What is the biggest challenge the industry is facing today, and how should companies adapt to overcome it?
Bobby Shell: Payment fragility. Most operators are one processor decision away from a broken cashier declined deposits from players who have the money, chargebacks eating margin, and redemption queues that quietly churn players.
The adaptation is rail diversification, done compliantly: reduce single-rail dependence, add instant funding and withdrawal mechanisms that carry no chargeback exposure, and measure every rail on revenue metrics like deposit conversion, payout speed, VIP retention not processing cost.
If you could give one piece of advice to iGaming operators and industry professionals preparing for the next year, what would it be?
Bobby Shell: Pull your decline data. Many operators have never looked at deposit declines by state and by rail, and they’re consistently shocked at how much revenue is dying at the cashier.
Once you see the number, treating payment resilience as a growth investment instead of a compliance chore becomes an easy decision. Lightning Network wins, and neo-banks today like cash app enable this.
What’s one prediction that you believe will surprise the industry?
Bobby Shell: Within a year, payout speed becomes a headline marketing metric. Operators will advertise “withdrawals in seconds” the way they advertise odds boosts and welcome bonuses today. The fastest-growing brands will be the ones where chargebacks have effectively disappeared because volume shifted to instant, push-only rails.
The industry still thinks payments are plumbing, but payments are product important.
Final Thoughts
Bobby Shell: How money moves decides who acquires players, who keeps them. Most operators have never pulled their decline data by state and by rail. When they finally do, they’re stunned by how much revenue dies at the cashier. A withdrawal that lands in seconds changes how players talk about a brand.
Players screenshot fast payouts. Nobody screenshots a three-day ACH. Within a year, payout speed becomes a headline marketing metric, right next to odds boosts and welcome bonuses. The operators who get there first build an edge the rest can’t buy back with bonus spend.
With a background in digital media and a keen eye for emerging technologies, Ronaldo bridges the gap between players and platforms through clear, insightful reporting to the iGaming industry.
