The online casino industry is booming, and part of it is thanks to the emergence of bitcoin casinos. While online casinos now offer a host of banking options from credit and debit cards to e-wallets, bitcoin casinos take it a step further by allowing the use of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin for your transactions. But what exactly is special about bitcoin casinos and how do they work?
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that was created in 2009. Being a digital currency, bitcoin circulates and may be utilized only in the internet, as there is no tangible representation of the currency.
In recent years, bitcoin has gained popularity not just as an investment, but as an actual usable medium for making transactions through the internet. With how widely accepted it is nowadays, you can use bitcoin to buy and sell goods and services on the internet just like any other regular currency. You can also convert your bitcoin into other currencies.
Another distinguishing factor of bitcoin from fiat currencies is that bitcoin has no centralization and regulation mechanism. In other words, there is no bank or institution that controls the use and circulation of bitcoin.
The widespread use of bitcoin in the online sphere among various industries has been incorporated by the online casino industry as well. Now, you can use bitcoin to make transactions with online casinos.
How do Bitcoin Casinos Work?
Whereas back then, transactions with online casinos are made with fiat currencies such as US dollars, euros, and pounds, bitcoin casinos allow the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin for you to make deposits and withdrawals.
In bitcoin casinos, instead of making deposits from your bank account or credit/debit card, you can make deposits from your bitcoin wallet. On the other end, your withdrawals are also directed to your bitcoin wallet.
One apprehension that gamblers may have about using bitcoin is its volatility. At any given moment, the value of bitcoin can fluctuate, but how does this translate to bitcoin casinos?
To address this, some bitcoin casinos convert your bitcoin into normal currency first, such as euros. Thus, after you make a deposit, the amount of bitcoin that you deposit will be converted into its current value in euros which will then be reflected in your bitcoin casino account. Of course, this still depends from casino to casino, as there are bitcoin casinos that solely use bitcoin while there are others that include bitcoin among other currencies such as US dollars and euros in their platform.
Advantages of Bitcoin Casinos
- No Transaction Fees
Since bitcoin is decentralized, there’s no need to go through mediums such as banks for your bitcoin to transfer to the casino. Thus, there are minimal transaction costs when depositing and withdrawing money in bitcoin casinos. This allows you to keep more of your winnings instead of having to give up a percentage of your winnings to pay fees.
- Speedy Withdrawals
With traditional online casinos, withdrawals can take up to days, or even weeks to process. In bitcoin casinos, transactions can only take up to at most 12 hours, which means that you can enjoy your winnings within a day after requesting a withdrawal.
- More Game Variety
When you play in bitcoin casinos, you can play not just the common games offered in all online casinos such as poker, slots, and table games, but also other bitcoin games. These bitcoin games may be similar to traditional casino games while some bitcoin casinos put a twist in their bitcoin games by introducing new rules and mechanics.
- Anonymous Transactions
If you play in normal online casinos, you usually have to supply your banking details to the casino, and your bank or credit card provider may be notified that your transactions are made for gambling purposes. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving up their information to third parties or with their bank knowing that they gamble. This won’t be a problem with bitcoin casinos as all transactions are anonymous and you won’t have to provide personal details.
- More Generous Bonuses
Bitcoin has lower transaction fees for both gamblers and the casino. Thus, casinos earn more since bitcoin transactions are generally processed for free and they can share their increased earnings with players in the form of more generous bonuses than you’d find in normal online casinos. Furthermore, bitcoin casinos are also known to have higher payout percentages than traditional online casinos.
How to Find the Best Bitcoin Casino
Similar to finding the best online casino, you can look at the multiple bitcoin casino options you have through review sites dedicated for crypto casinos. These review sites offer in-depth reviews of bitcoin casinos which can help you make the best decision for yourself.
