Why Is Online Gambling With Bitcoin All Set For Future Highs?
If you’ve bought Bitcoin, there’s a good chance you’ll be reeling at this point. Doing so has always been a gamble.
Riding the highs and surfing the lows is nothing new, and there have been many occasions where investors have had to have strong nerves to hold on for dear life. Even if you’re supremely confident or consider yourself a chancer, it is likely that you got nervous, twitched a little bit, and had to tell yourself that all will be well again. You’ll also have come through the other side unscathed.
As 2021 kicked into gear, the value of Bitcoin soared once more, indicating that Bitcoin is here to stay. Many staunch supporters of the cryptocurrency have been saying this for years, and in some cases, on deaf ears. Of course, this is cracking news if you’re holding on to any Bitcoins, and not so good if you panicked and sold them for a low price or simply haven’t bought any yet.
Investing in Bitcoins is a gamble, as we’ve seen in 2022 and 2023 with the wild fluctuations in values throughout this period. But what happens when you want to gamble with your gamble? Given their volatility, is betting with Bitcoins a smart move?
The early indications are that having a punt with Bitcoin can be just as profitable as investing in the cryptocurrency itself. Of course, you’ll need to know what you’re doing. To help you assess those risks, let us walk you through the pros and cons, the positives, and negatives if you will, to betting with Bitcoin.
Who knows, you might even make a buck or two in the long run. And certainly, for anyone that might need to get their hands on a cash win quickly, cryptocurrencies are one of the fastest payout options available for any form of gambling.
Who Are The Big Names In Bitcoin Gambling?
You can use Bitcoin for any form of gambling, including the big three of sports betting, online poker, and in online casinos. For a comprehensive list of the best bitcoin gambling games you can head on over to BTCGOSU, but there are five big firms worth mentioning right here:
- BC.game – It’s easy to list BC.game at the top of any list of crypto casinos. An excellent games library compliments a full range of crypto deposit and withdrawal methods.
- Bitstarz Casino – The Bitstarz gaming portal provides over 3,500 real money titles from top studios like NetEnt, Betsoft, Evolution Gaming, and Microgaming. Options span traditional casino staples like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and poker. The platform also offers proprietary table games with a unique crypto-centric twist.
- Bitcasino.io – clearly providing access to a range of casino games, and licensed in Curacao. In fact it was the first licensed bitcoin-led online casino.
- Slots.io – focusing on slots including single player machines and tournaments. Slots.io is licensed in Estonia, and caters mainly for Canadian and Scandinavian gamblers.
- Winz.io – Winz delivers all of the usual features of a strong crypto casino, like a complete range of deposit options, worthwhile bonus and promotional offers, fast payments, and an extensive games library.
Isn’t Betting with Bitcoin a Gamble in Itself?
It certainly is. Given that Bitcoin is highly volatile, and its value can drop dramatically with the snap of your fingers, you would rightly assume that you could lose money relatively quickly by purchasing Bitcoin. However, if you look at the overall value of Bitcoin, it always seems to recover, and then some. Ultimately, if you can get hold of BTC relatively cheaply (which is not easy to do during an upswing in value), then over time, you’re in a good position in terms of making money when you sell it.
What happens when you gamble with it, though?
In reality, betting with Bitcoin isn’t much different from gambling with any other sort of currency, even FIAT currency. Of course, transferring a stack of Bitcoins to your cryptocurrency casino account is not advised because if there is a significant tailing off in value while that cryptocurrency sits in your account, and you gamble with it, your bets will be worth far less, and so will your winnings.
Depositing and betting with smaller sums of BTC is advised, especially when used in conjunction with the myriad of Bitcoin bonuses that crypto casinos tend to offer.
What Games Can I Play with Bitcoin Stakes?
Go back a decade, and Bitcoin betting was hardly worth your time. In most cases, a small selection of in-house, proprietary games with generally unfavourable RTP rates and so-so volatility was about all you could expect. However, today’s Bitcoin casinos have expanded far beyond a dice game here and an instant win title there.
Today, you can expect to find all manner of casino games at your disposal, including poker, sports betting, and bingo/lottery options to boot. Everything from live dealer casino games from Evolution Gaming to progressive jackpot slots from Microgaming can be played. You just need to find a trusted, safe, and licensed crypto casino to play them at.
The advances in crypto betting have progressed so nicely that the experience you can have betting with BTC at cryptocurrency casinos is virtually no different from betting with FIAT options, such as US dollars, British pounds sterling or euros.
This is important. Because Bitcoin casinos are now on par with their FIAT cousins in terms of licensing, certifications and adhere to responsible gambling policies, the risk of losing out to a blacklisted, rogue, dodgy cryptocurrency casino is now non-existent: again, only if you know where to play.
A Word of Warning
It wouldn’t be fair to build up betting with Bitcoin without first going over some of the potential pitfalls of doing so. We’re not going to lie – there are always a few cons involved when gambling, and betting with BTC is no different.
Here are three of the more pressing issues that you may want to pay attention to:
-
Watch Out for Fees: Depositing with a FIAT currency payment provider will often see you deposit (and, in many cases, withdraw) for free. However, Bitcoin payment providers usually want a cut, so you’re going to end up losing a small portion every time you deposit. On the upside, many casinos waive the fees for withdrawals, while FIAT currencies may charge you for cashouts, so it sort of balances out.
-
Watch the Volatility: FIAT currencies are far more stable than Bitcoin. Therefore, you need to have an extra set of eyes on the market value. If Bitcoin looks as though it will take a turn and slide down in value, you need to pay attention to this. This can affect when you choose to gamble and when you shy away from it.
-
Not Accepted Worldwide: Crypto casinos have come a long way since their early days, but many licensing jurisdictions and countries still shun BTC betting. While there are plenty of top crypto casinos out there, don’t expect to be able to deposit and wager with Bitcoin at all of them.
Reasons to Gamble with Bitcoin Online
Now that we’ve covered the cons, let’s get to the fun part – the positives of betting with Bitcoin online. There are more of these to cover, but bear with us, and we’ll have you up to speed in no time. Here then are the perks of Bitcoin gambling…
-
Anonymity: As soon as KYC (Know Your Customer) processes become involved, your anonymity goes out of the window. This is a real problem if you’re gambling in a country where online betting isn’t strictly kosher. Therefore, a little anonymity goes a long way. Bitcoin betting sites are right up there with the best of them when it comes to anonymity. You won’t be invisible, but it will be harder for others to work out what you’re doing.
-
Super-Fast Transaction Times: In the FIAT casino world, e-wallets are about as fast a payment provider as you’re going to get, and with most withdrawals taking less than 24 hours, they are decent. However, Bitcoin cashouts are faster. You can often receive your winnings in a matter of 15 minutes or less, assuming you have cleared any hurdles such as wagering requirements on bonuses you may have snapped up.
-
No Taxes: Most major gambling countries don’t apply taxes on gambling winnings, but some do. However, while there are often taxes in place that hit you on any profit you make selling Bitcoin, there are none that we’re aware of that see you pay tax on gambling winnings from Bitcoin.
-
Great Gaming Libraries: As touched on, gone are the days of obscure, proprietary and in-house games. You can still find these, but now most Bitcoin casinos pack the best slots from leading developers. These are the games you know and love, so having them available is a significant selling point for Bitcoin casino operators.
-
More Secure transactions: Because you don’t have to hand out your bank and card details to casinos, Bitcoin payments are considerably safer in the long term. Sure, there are always hackers out there with their own tricks, but for the most part, your payments (and thus, your details) are typically more secure.
-
Bag a Bitcoin Bonus: As mentioned, today’s Bitcoin casinos are now virtually akin to conventional FIAT casinos, even down to the bonuses and promotions that they offer. You can generally get top bonuses, including welcome offers, redeposit deals, compete in leaderboard challenges and tournaments, claim free spins and loyalty offer and more. Moreover, these deals (at reputable sites) also have fair terms and conditions, wagering requirements, game eligibility rules, and more like their FIAT currency cousins.
Is Bitcoin Gambling Worth It?
We could discuss the profitability of obtaining Bitcoin and the potential for making (and losing) money all day. However, we don’t have a fantasy-style crystal ball that tells us what the value of BTC will be next week, let alone over the long term.
What we do know about is gambling, though.
The gambling industry is far more stable than Bitcoin will ever be. As long as Bitcoin is a popular cryptocurrency (and it is the most popular, by a long way), and assuming it maintains its course as a valuable one to invest in, then it is worth gambling with.
Obtaining Bitcoin is far trickier (for newbies) than adjusting to the Bitcoin betting world.
In today’s industry, the gambling experience is more transparent than ever before, with responsible gambling tools aplenty, licenses, certifications, hefty regulations, auditing and more all playing a part in keeping gamblers safe.
Assuming you understand the risks associated with Bitcoin’s value in general, then you’ll find betting with Bitcoin no riskier than wagering with dollars or any other currency.