Can Bitcoin Be Used For Gambling?

Those not familiar with Bitcoin are unsurprisingly very skeptical about its use. Bitcoin has long been associated with criminal activity; earning infamy for its multi-million dollar thefts, ransomware and widely-rumored paid assassinations. Negative publicity has inflated the reality of these issues and the benefits of this liberating currency have been largely ignored. Bitcoin, for all its sins, is a remarkable technological achievement that grants its owner the ability to untether from their government-led financial system. Without any specific rules and restrictions, Bitcoin has become the most exciting currency for gambling enthusiasts the world over, and getting started is not as technically or legally challenging as one might think.

How To Get Started

When Bitcoin was first introduced in 2009, sending a payment to another peer would require an exceptional level of understanding and technical knowhow. 10 years later, the ecosystem has evolved enormously with software companies developing and publishing wallet software that is more user-friendly than your typical bank account.

This article will focus on the simplest methods for how to use Bitcoin for gambling.

Gambling Wallets

The first point of call for any prospective Bitcoin gambler is to consider the wallet options available. While gambling using Bitcoin is outlawed in very few jurisdictions, a number of wallet and exchange companies have made the decision to blacklist its use. Here are some of the best wallets for those looking to gamble with Bitcoin.

With a wallet chosen, you will now able to send and receive Bitcoin in a similar way to using PayPal or a banking application.

Buying Bitcoin for Gambling

Owning a Bitcoin wallet is great but owning Bitcoin is better. As you might expect, you first need to get hold of some BTC before you can gamble with it. There are a number of ways to earn Bitcoin for free, however for those looking to wager more than a few dollars, the best approach would be to purchase BTC at an exchange.

There are dozens of exchanges to choose from, however this decision should not be taken lightly. A large number of Bitcoin exchanges are unregulated and it is not uncommon for an exchange to be hacked. With that said, there are some exchanges that have demonstrated a level of competence and security that goes way beyond what one might expect even from a traditional bank account. For the purposes of simplicity, our best recommendation is Coinbase.com – a platform that has been operating for the best part of a decade without issue.

Coinbase accepts buyers from a wide range of countries anywhere from the West to the East. Buying Bitcoin at Coinbase may come with slightly higher fees than the rest of the market, but a purchase can be made easily and with an extremely high degree of security. Coins purchased at Coinbase can then be sent to your Blockchain.com or Electrum wallet where they can then be deposited at a casino.

Note: do not deposit at a casino directly from your Coinbase wallet as the transaction may blacklist your account.

Those who are looking for a more anonymous way to purchase Bitcoin, or simply are not eligible to buy Bitcoin through Coinbase, would do well to use LocalBitcoins.com – a peer to peer Bitcoin exchange that is open to anyone anywhere in the world.

Depositing Bitcoin At A Casino

Now we come to the exciting part – making a deposit at your very first Bitcoin casino! The first port-of-call is choosing exactly which casino to deposit at. Fortunately for you, this website is dedicated to providing unbias and thorough reviews of (nearly) every Bitcoin casino on the market.

You can find a full list of these Bitcoin casinos on our homepage.

When choosing a Bitcoin casino, there are a few extra things to consider that you may not be familiar with in the traditional gambling world.

• Does the casino offer Provably Fair games?
• Is the casino anonymous or does it offer no registration?
• Does the casino offer other cryptocurrency gambling options such as Ethereum?
• And – as you will already know – does the casino offer a good Bitcoin bonus?

With a Bitcoin casino determined, now comes the deposit transaction. Bitcoin transactions look (understandably) confusing to newcomers: a wallet address is a string of random letters and numbers and the transaction ID is the same. This obfuscation of wallet details and transaction IDs is hugely valuable in that it provides a level of anonymity that no other digital currency was previously able to achieve, however it does add some confusion.

But fear not! Once you have sent your first Bitcoin transaction you’ll soon pick up how to use the currency. A few things to consider when sending BTC:

• Check, check and check again. Bitcoin – to its benefit – is decentralized, meaning that there is no central arbiter to run to if things go wrong. Always copy and paste a wallet address and – if sending a large sum – make a small payment first to confirm receipt before sending the full amount.
• Use a new wallet address on every transaction. Whether you are depositing or withdrawing from a casino; good Bitcoin hygiene states that a new address should be generated for each transaction (simple to do in your wallet software). This practice provides the user with additional anonymity that could prove valuable.

With a Bitcoin deposit made, you are now ready to start betting! Welcome to the world of Bitcoin gambling, a space full of interesting and unique games available no where else as well as traditional-styled casinos and live dealers. Good luck at the tables!

FAQ

Is Bitcoin legal?

The most common question among new gamblers is whether Bitcoin is legal to use. The answer is; “it depends”. In the vast majority of countries the laws surrounding the use of Bitcoin do not differ to the laws surrounding the use of fiat currency (dollars, euros etc). There are some countries where Bitcoin is banned, however with the use of VPNs and anonymous casinos, there really is very little way to enforce this ban. That said, you gamble at your own risk!

Is Bitcoin private?

One of the main tropes in crypto-land is that everything is 100% anonymous. This is a nice idea but it’s also incorrect. There are anonymous cryptocurrencies like Monero, but Bitcoin is far from anonymous. In fact, used in the wrong way, Bitcoin can be more revealing about one’s transactions than a bank transfer. The important thing to note when using Bitcoin is that a new address should be created for every transaction as described further above.

Is Bitcoin safe?

Used in the right way, Bitcoin is arguably the safest and most secure asset in the universe. This is not an exaggeration. Bitcoin is secured by unbreakable cryptography. Its only threat (and a threat to anything else secured by cryptography) is the rise of quantum computing, however this too has been debunked by multiple authorities in the space. To outsiders, Bitcoin may seem shady and untrustworthy, but to those who know and experience the currency first hand, it is a wonderfully liberating and safe currency to use.

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