Joining the Revolution – Cryptocurrency and Online Casinos

I have to confess that I was late to join the revolution. Everybody was talking about cryptocurrency and online casinos, and I felt it was too fast. Back then, I didn’t see the full potential and needed to pay more attention to it. Even my friends on Facebook were asking if they should buy or sell Bitcoin, but I didn’t get it.

So here we are, months after Bitcoin surpassed $18,000 and the surge of many new cryptocurrencies rocked the market in 2017. Did you know that there are more than 1,120 currencies out there? Trading them is legal in most countries in the world.

It is important to remark that Bitcoin, for example, is very popular between USA players. Here you can find a selection with the Best casinos accepting Bitcoin.

Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Growth:

Cryptocurrency and Online Casinos

Bitcoin is raising high compared to it’s initial value and many new currencies appeared in 2017 to complete the new picture. Why are cryptocurrencies so attractive? Why online casinos accept them? Afterall, what operators want is to know their customers. What are the challenges?

Although Cryptocurrencies are wide spread, many don’t even know what they are, how they work and so on… Back then, I also had many questions so I decided to inform myself, perhaps not to miss the next opportunity 😉

Stay with me while I show you what I found out.

What Cryptocurrency is? How does it work?

Long story short, cryptocurrencies are virtual (or digital) currencies that use cryptography for security purposes. Users assign value by accepting and trading it. The more people use it, the higher its value; no particular state or country controls this process.

No banks are working as the middle man, and transactions are completed between the parties with high security. Transparent records keep track of all the transactions made with the currency. This is what people call “blockchain,” a public cryptographic transaction system that is available for everybody to see.

Technical experts agree that the security behind it is “genius”, but we won’t get to such technical detail. In experts, we trust!

The direct result is an authentic, highly secure, and reliable digital currency.

The beginning of a new era: Bitcoin

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, created in 2009 as an open-source software, and remains the most popular today. It is not known if it was created by someone or a group of people, only their nickname was disclosed as: Satoshi Nakamoto.

Little they knew, that few years later their invention would revolutionize the financial world. Online Casinos were among the first ones to accept Bitcoin. Why? Very simple: could be used as a simple payment method popular between players. Anonymity was one of the first advantages users saw in this currency. That’s how the first Bitcoin casinos were created.

If you want to better understand how Bitcoin works, I recommend you watching this video created by @CuriousInvestor in Youtube:

Cryptocurrency and Online Casinos

Online casinos and Cryptocurrency have more to do than we can imagine. Both of them develop with the growth of internet.

Let’s take the Bitcoin example: Online and land based casinos were quick to join once the currency gained notoriety. The first Bitcoin casino was launched a couple of years ago and many new brands, some of them belonging to well known companies, joined since then. Not only casinos, but also gambling websites including Sportsbooks currently accept Bitcoins. It’s an amazing successful story!

The blockchain allows for instant deposits and withdrawals without disclosing personal information. Anonymity, speed, security, and fairness are granted. Are Cryptocurrencies the perfect match for Online Casinos?

Crypto casinos offer a “feature called: “Provably Fai,r” which”Provably Fair” feature that allows you to verify every bet with the server seed and your client seed. That’s also great news!

Cryptocurrency Gambling offer many advantages and a few disadvantages. We will cover them in the following paragraphs. We will use Bitcoin as the best example of cryptocurrencies, since it is already widely accepted in online gambling.

Advantages for Online Casinos and Gamblers

High levels of Anonymity and NO Data Breaches

Let’s start with the obvious: Anonymity. Cryptocurrencies allow for a high level of anonymity in every transaction, being deposits or withdrawals.

There are no banks or entities acting as middle man and you don’t have to provide any personal details. This is a perfect choice for anyone who prefers to keep his gambling habits private.

It is important to remark that there are several types of cryptocurrency, some of them offering higher levels of anonymity than others. Let’s say that Monero and Dash are the anonymous ones, while BTC and others still can be tracked (and you provide your personal details when you purchase them).

Considering that there were more than 1,100 data breaches during 2017, using an anonymous payment method doesn’t sound a bad idea. Paying with BTC in an online casino avoids having to provide your bank details to an additional entity. If you are interested in this field, there’s a really cool guide with information about data breaches in 2016.

Geo-ByPass

Cryptocurrencies are also the favorite method for people who want to play at online casinos but are unable to, due to different restrictions.

Lets call it USA, France or the developing situation in Australia. There are many countries with ultra tight legislation that make it difficult to deposit and withdraw at a gambling site. Even if gambling is legal there, banking can be problematic. Paying with Bitcoins, allows you to bypass these restrictions.

Since there’s little to no legislation in Online Gambling and Cryptocurrency, this becomes less of a problem. Partially because of what we mention, Malta is leading new efforts to regulate Gambling with Cryptocurrency.

Fast Deposits and Withdrawals

One of the top advantages of using cryptocurrency to deposit and withdraw at an online casino, is the speed. Payments made with Bitcoin, for example, are processed within minutes and arrive to your e-wallet almost instantly.

In the same way, deposits arrive immediately and you can start playing with no delay. You can deposit, make a coffee and light a cigarette – only if you smoke – and when you are back, you are ready to start playing.

Reputable casinos, like the ones we list on this website, process your withdrawals in just a couple of minutes. Not by coincidence, Bitcoin is one of the fastest payment methods around. Cryptocurrency becomes increasingly relevant in the online gambling world.

We love fast withdrawals with Cryptocurrency in online casinos!

Cost Effective

Fees? What fees?! Many other e-wallets such as PayPal or Neteller charge higher fees to process any deposit or withdrawal. They are convenient, but may become pricey depending on the sum you are transferring.

Paying with Bitcoin, avoid the need of middle man – call it banks – to process the transactions. Fees involved in transactions with Cryptocurrencies are way lower than in standard payments. This is great for the player in two ways:

  1. Less costs: so you can save money or even use it to play more.
  2. More promotions: online casinos save huge amounts on banking costs, which can be redirected to better promotions offered to players. Some casinos offer higher welcome bonuses for players depositing with Bitcoin. That’s a great way to promote it’s use.

How come low transaction fees? With no central entity regulating it, Bitcoin is just a peer to peer system. Only 2 parties participate in the transaction, therefore it is unlikely you will be charged much for it.

You may pay charges to speed up the transaction, or to convert the Bitcoins to normal currency. If you compare it to the fees involved in regular payments, you will understand the difference is huge. For USA players they are definitely low comparing to other methods, while for others depends on how fast they want to receive their earnings.

Tax Free

Cashing out your casino winnings with Bitcoin is Tax Free! No small letter here.

Many jurisdictions tax activities in land and online casinos but due to the anonymity factor surrounding Cryptocurrency transactions, trying to tax it is currently impossible. Not for long…

Downsides of Cryptocurrency and Casinos

There are not many, but we can mention a couple that are relevant. First of all, in order to pay with any Cryptocurrency, you have to own some. Where do you get them? Where to buy Bitcoins, for example?

  • You can buy Bitcoins in many websites, but I would recommend to buy them from a certified exchange. The ones listed at Bitcoin Website should work. It is important to remark that while Bitcoin is anonymous, the exchange where you buy them will collect your details. If you decide to buy Bitcoins, do it safely. It used to be complicated, but it is quite simple nowadays. You can get them by Western Union, Wire Transfer and also using other ewallets such as Neteller and Skrill.

The second one that comes to mind, just by checking the first graph posted here is volatility. There’s nothing to do here. Bitcoin value is determined by offer and demand in the open market with no centralization. It’s a risk that owners are willing to take.

  • Bitcoin original price was less than a penny in the first registered transaction (2009). Remember the story of the guy who bought 2 pizzas for 10,000 BTC? In current values, that guy had the most expensive pizzas ever ($39,000,000)!!! If you compare it with it’s peak in 2017, around $4,500… it sounds crazy. Even people who bought it in 2016 was able to make tons… clearly that wasn’t me…

The popularity of Bitcoin created more demand than the system can supply. This increased the waiting times as well as the fees. There’s a $1 fee that owners can pay to speed up Bitcoin transactions.

  • Compared to the fees involved in a traditional transaction, players paying with Bitcoin wont’t have much to complain.

Best Cryptocurrency for Online Gambling

Bitcoin

By far, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world.

All the infrastructure is done and now is easy acquiring Bitcoins since there are hundreds of exchanges available around the world. The list keeps growing including big names like GDAX, Kraken and others. There are Bitcoin ATMS, variety of ewallets for different devices, call it PC or MAC, iPhone or Android, Windows phones, etc. Users can take advantage of free wallets such as Blockchain, Coinbase and many more.

Litecoin

Very similar to Bitcoin, it was meant to be the silver version of it. Since their system is less congested, fees are lower and transactions are processed faster. Only 2 minutes for Litecoin, while Bitcoin takes around 10. As expected, there’s less infrastructure surrounding it and that becomes a problem when you want to trade Litecoins. You can do so in some Bitcoin ATMs or buy Bitcoins and convert them to Litecoins in an exchange.

Monero – Dash

Offers absolute Anonymity, even crossing illegal lines. As expected, is really difficult to buy Monero but you can convert your Bitcoins and Litecoins to it. If you are looking for the highest privacy, go for it.

Bottom Line

Cryptocurrency and Online Casinos were meant to be together.

All the features that digital currency offer are exactly what players look for while gambling online. Speed, reliability, high levels of anonymity and the toughest security in online transactions are strictly relevant. Low fees and additional security layers – including the ‘Provably Fair” Bitcoin feature, make of this method one of the best.

As for now, Online Casinos widely accept Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Dash and Monero are starting to gain terrain.

USA players are mainly interested in online casinos accepting cryptocurrencies, due to the fact that they can remain mostly anonymous and bypass all Geo restrictions. Bitcoin is an additional payment method in a market that offers few processing options. It is more than welcome!

Lack of regulation benefit many players around the globe, but sadly, that won’t last long. Malta is taking initiatives to come up with new regulation in online gambling with cryptocurrency and this may definitely affect players anonymity.

Every time regulation comes to the game, we need to provide more personal details. That’s for sure.

In the meantime, the field looks green and players can keep enjoying their favorite Online Casinos with their Bitcoins – or other cryptocurrency they may own. They can gamble in absolute anonymity, deposit and withdraw instantly, in a matter of minutes.

While Bitcoin is anonymous, the place where you buy them (exchanges) collects your personal details. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right one. I mentioned the Bitcoin website as a reliable source of certified exchanges.