Introduction to Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the most prevalent and popular kind of cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency is a digital form of money that is ‘mined’ by solving algorithms by people around the world. It is decentralized, that is, it does not have any central bank backing it, and is not controlled by any single government. It is similar to cash, in that, it does not leave behind any footprint after a transaction has been completed. Since there is no credit card company or bank involved in bitcoin transactions, the fees involved are quite low. Care should be taken to understand that the transactions are complete and irreversible once they have been made.
Advantages Of Using Bitcoin for Online Gambling
Bitcoin may be the perfect form of currency for gambling. Its structure and makeup have been designed to be secure, fast, and low cost, all of the things that people want while making payment to their online casinos. Here are some of the advantages of using bitcoin in online casinos:
Bitcoin is decentralized
Bitcoin is decentralized and thus no one can freeze your account or take away your money because it does not come under any one country’s jurisdiction.Bitcoin is tax free
Since there is no authority governing Bitcoin, any winnings made through Bitcoin are tax free.Bitcoin is secure while maintaining your privacy
There is no identifying personal information attached to your bitcoin wallet. i.e. There is nothing that will show up on credit card bills or anything that can be traced back to you.Transaction are extremely fast
All online casinos process bitcoin transaction almost instantaneously so you can avoid all those headaches of waiting for a withdrawal to be processed and sending identification documents. A large number of casinos are now accepting bitcoin because of similar advantages for them as well. They do not have to worry about high fees to conduct transactions and do not have to worry about any chargebacks or refunds because once a transaction has been made with bitcoin it is permanent. Bitcoin casinos also provide games which are ‘provably fair’ which means that the algorithms being carried out to play the games are transparent and have tested to be fair. In the past, a number of online casinos have been accused of bending the algorithms to unfairly favor themselves, thus, losing their credibility and the trust of the players. Bitcoin casinos do not have to worry about that happening.
Bitcoin for Gambling in Mobile Casinos
Most online gambling sites have recognized that a large percentage of their users is shifting to mobile and so they have worked hard to make their mobile experiences as similar to the full web experience as possible. Sites have adopted universal design principles which automatically fits their casino games to the correct screen size and offers the appropriate interface for the players. Limitations with flash or other proprietary software lead to a slightly limited availability of games on the mobile but they should improve in the times to come. Since Bitcoin has been designed in a mobile-first world, it is seamlessly integrated into payments methods accepted through mobile casinos. It, once again, carries the advantages of being secure, untraceable, and low cost on the mobile interface as anywhere else.
How to buy Bitcoin for Online Gambling?
Bitcoin is very easy to procure and involves some very basic steps. The first is to download an appropriate mobile wallet. These are free and available on various platforms as well as different levels of security. Once a Bitcoin wallet has been set up, you now need to actually buy the Bitcoin. The best method is to register with an online exchange such as
Bleutrade, or through a direct bank transfer on websites such as
Coinbase. The Bitcoin will be transferred to your wallet almost instantaneously. All that is left is now to go the website of your choice, choose bitcoin as your preferred method of payment, and then make the payment.
Buying Bitcoin for US residents
Due to online gambling restrictions in certain states, the best way for Americans is to buy bitcoin via an exchange like
Coinbase (as mentioned above) and then open an e-wallet to transfer the balance to play at online casinos from. For example, online casinos
Slots.lv and
Bovada recommend the following e-wallets for mobiles:
And the following e-wallets for desktops:
