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Bitcoin is a so-called crypto currency that has grown into a worldwide payment system. It was conceived in 2008 and has grown in value exponentially ever since. Nowadays online casinos are also offering it as a payment method. Learn all about Bitcoin here. Read more
In 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. After publishing the paper about the new crypto currency, he then implemented the software as an open source code in January 2009, which is when he also mined the first block chain.
Nakamoto himself is rather a mystery and his identity remains unconfirmed. Many men have been speculated to be Nakamoto and some claimed to be him, but little evidence has been conclusive or believable.
It would appear that Nakamoto is no longer directly involved with Bitcoin, however, and sort of handed over the reins to Gavin Andreson, who is a developer and who founded the Bitcoin Foundation. Bitcoin is a decentralised payment system, which means it doesn’t work with a central depository or even a single administrator. The Bitcoin Foundation is the closest thing that exists to a public front for the currency.
In August 2017 bitcoin was split into two derivative currencies, the already known Bitcoin as well Bitcoin Cash.
At the moment there are well over 100,000 people and vendors using Bitcoin around the world. Among them more and more online casinos.
For a while during its early days, Bitcoin didn’t have a very good reputation, because it was much used in the Dark Web for illegal transactions. In the meantime the legitimacy of the currency has lead to more and more countries and jurisdictions making efforts to legalise and regulate the use of Bitcoin.
First of all you need to be aware that this is not simply a different kind of payment method but an actual currency. It is a virtual currency at that, meaning it doesn’t exist outside of the code it is written in. There are no actual cash reserves stored anywhere in the world.
There are two ways to obtain Bitcoin: through mining or by exchanging it from your standard currency at a broker or e-Wallet service dealing in Bitcoin.
The more traditional way is to mine the Bitcoins, which involves an somewhat exhausting high-tech process, where so-called ‘miners’ receive the currency as a reward for processing payments.
In order to use Bitcoin you will need to have a wallet. Since it is a peer-to-peer system, there are no other banks involved between the two parties in a transaction. A transaction consists of at least one input and one output. The latter contains an address and the amount a user sends to an online casino for example. All transactions are recorded in the blockchain, which is a public ledger, but also completely anonymous.
Your Bitcoin wallet very much works like an account, so the term is certainly appropriate. You can go to a Bitcoin wallet site and create one free of charge. There are two types of wallets, either using software on your computer or the cloud.
The software on your computer will obviously keep your Bitcoins safe, but if you have computer troubles, you might use your Bitcoins as well. It is quite safe to use the cloud option these days, where your Bitcoins are then stored online.
You’ll be creating a wallet using your email address and a secure password. And it does need to be secure. It’s a pre-requisite to have extra long and complex passwords here.
Once that’s done you can use your wallet for all kinds of transactions, provided the other party has a wallet as well. Each wallet is identified by its address, which is a long string of random characters and numbers. And then you’ll have to add Bitcoins into your account. That means you’ll either start mining Bitcoins or you transfer money from a regular account or credit card, which is then converted into Bitcoin.
In order to make deposits and withdrawals using Bitcoin at an online casino, you will need a Bitcoin wallet as well as an account at an online casino that offers Bitcoin as a currency/payment option.
Provided your casino accepts Bitcoin, you will simply go to the cashier and select Bitcoin as your preferred payment method. A Bitcoin address will appear on your screen, which is, of course, the casino’s Bitcoin wallet address. You will use it to send Bitcoin from your own wallet to the casino wallet.
Every Bitcoin transaction goes through a verification process, but that’s usually a very fast affair, which means once you’ve sent the payment through your wallet, it’ll be accessible through your casino account in no time at all.
Keep in mind that you will actually play with Bitcoin as your chosen currency at the online casino.
When choosing Bitcoin to withdraw funds, you will simply provide the casino with your wallet address and select the amount you wish to withdraw. Payments are once again processed quickly and securely at a minimum transaction fee.
Bitcoin casinos will offer welcome bonuses, especially if Bitcoin is only one of the payment options on offer. In the early days of Bitcoin casinos bonus offers were rare and you’ll have a hard time finding promotions allowing for Bitcoin or specifically geared towards Bitcoin users. But welcome bonuses are definitely available.
That aside there are several benefits to using Bitcoin beyond its anonymity and safety. For instance, exchange rates are not an issue between wallets. You can keep Bitcoin completely separate in its wallet and use it for all kinds of payments and services without ever needing to make a transfer using a different currency.
Additionally you have the benefit of a decentralised currency, meaning regional restrictions usually don’t apply. That is especially interesting to international casino players in the US, of course.
Interestingly online casinos that only use Bitcoin and compatible games often have better odds, which means a lower house edge and more frequent wins for customers. Keep in mind, however, that this is not necessarily the case with all Bitcoin casinos or games. It certainly used to be this way, but more casinos are now geared towards the use of Bitcoin, which also means more game developers make their games Bitcoin compatible and here the odds won’t necessarily improve.
There are two kinds of Bitcoin online casinos: those that only offer Bitcoin as a currency, and those that offer Bitcoin as one payment option and currency among many others.
For quite a while the first type was the only type of online casino to play at using Bitcoin. Such casinos were not very well regulated and lacked oversight. Consequently such casino often used pirated or unlicensed software, which was not exactly safe for players to use.
Nowadays more and more regular online casinos offer Bitcoin as a currency as well and you can play there like you would using any other payment option. Since gambling jurisdictions are now moving towards making provisions for Bitcoin as a currency used for gambling transactions, it is likely that more online casino will be offering Bitcoin as a payment option soon. For now the list of our reviewed casinos using Bitcoin is still quite short.
Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.
