Even with increasing regulation, the bitcoin world still remains similar to the Wild West of the internet universe. And if there’s anything that’s a popular past time among cowboys, it’s definitely gambling. It’s only natural that bitcoin has quickly grown to be an immensely popular gambling chip in innovative online casinos.
The bitcoin gambling scene has matured a lot in just the past 2 years, and it seemingly keeps growing at an ever increasing pace. It all started with a few amateuristic betting sites run by individuals. For a long time, trust was the most important block to the success of bitcoin casinos becoming anywhere near as popular as they are today.
Fun Fact: Did you know that an online gambling license can cost up to $50,000 or more – per year? However, unlike you may assume, licenses alone barely decrease fraudulent or sketchy behaviour of casinos. Instead, they give a false sense of security to the customer. In short – you guessed it – licenses are there just to make the regulators money. Anyone can obtain a license with ease, as long as they have deep pockets.
Regulators were reluctant towards handing out licenses to casinos that would accept bitcoins. Vera&John became the first established, licensed casino to accept bitcoins in early 2014, but had to shut down just a few weeks later due to issues with regulators.
But the bitcoin world once again came up with a decentralized solution – the implementation of Provably Fair technology was a breakthrough that allowed players to check the RNG fairness of casinos by themselves. Simple math removed the need for power hungry regulators and licensers. And while the theory behind provably fair may be a bit too complicated to understand for just the average chap, the bitcoin world is full of very intellegent people that can verify the mechanics of casinos running provably fair games. If something is wrong, the bitcoin community is sure to notice.
If there is ever a dispute with payments, transactions can be proven with a simple link to blockchain.info. Further transparency is provided from public support threads on forums.
The nature of bitcoin is decentralization, and the community has once again managed to come up with an impressive solution to effectively police bitcoin casinos as well.
The Many Benefits Of Bitcoin Gambling
Once trust is no longer as much of an issue, we get to focus on the true value of using bitcoin as a gambling chip. For one, players can now enjoy full anonymity at some bitcoin casinos, such as the Belize based BitcoinPenguin. In addition, as ID checks are no longer required, casinos such as the above mentioned can send out cashouts automatically and instantly, with the help of a hot wallet.
In regulated, FIAT casinos, getting a cashout processed can be a long, dulling task, as players are often asked to provide ID proof. Even just sending a copy of your passport may not be enough, you sometimes have to take a picture of yourself holding the passport as well. Then, employees have to manually confirm each and every cashout request, resulting in a wait time of 12+ hours in most cases. Compare that to the instantaneous nature of bitcoin withdrawals, and it is no wonder to see why bitcoin gambling sites are suddenly becoming more and more popular.
Not to mention countries that “protect” their citizens from gambling sites by completely blocking and outlawing them. Most US citizens cannot legally play at an online casino. Similarly, there are dozens of otherwise civilized countries that have decided to restrict or outlaw online gambling, often just to protect their own government monopolies. In the past, residents of these countries had a hard time, as even if they could find a casino that accepted them, withdrawing funds would be a near impossibility.
But with the help of bitcoin, none of that is an issue anymore. Users can simply buy bitcoins, utilize a VPN to access a casino (in case it’s blocked as well), and then sell the bitcoins via LocalBitcoins, an anonymous bitcoin card, or even an exchange to cash out – and no goverment can realistically get in the way of that.
For operators, a lot of headache is saved by the simple fact that bitcoin cannot be refunded. Credit card chargeback fraud is a massive problem in casinos, which costs a lot to the operators and especially the victims. Bitcoin casinos simply won’t have to worry about that.
On the player’s side, transaction fees are minimal. When sending and receiving money from a regular online casino, you may lose around 2-5 USD just by sending the money in and out. With bitcoin, you will only lose cents. In addition to saving you money, it also enables the possibility of microgambling with dogecoin or millibitcoins, which is a much safer way to gamble for those uncomfortable with bigger amounts of risk.