If you live in the United States, you must have heard about Las Vegas many times in your life, and you may have even paid “Sin City” a visit. But why did Vegas became so popular around the globe?
Purely due to the gambling activities going on – casinos. But with years passing by, many people have started going online to play on digital casinos using cryptocurrencies, and that had begun to make the government question the legality of online gambling.
If you add to it a new trend – cryptocurrency gambling, you might ask a question if it is legal to gamble with Bitcoin in the US? To our surprise, the answer isn’t obvious so be sure to read carefully.
The Situation of Online Gambling In The US
Everybody loves to be pumped with an adrenaline rush from time to time and gambling is the way to do so for a big percentage of people. But if you live in the US things may not be so easy or favourable for you.
No particular law prohibits players from the US not to be able to gamble online using bitcoin to play Poker, slots, Blackjack or any other game. At the same time, there is a possibility that the state you live in doesn’t approve online gambling at all, so betting using bitcoin as your chosen currency wouldn’t be entirely legal.
You have nothing to worry about, though, as the government and the different agencies dealing with gambling matters do not target players as much as owners of such online sites, to begin with.
That doesn’t mean in any case that any action you take online while gambling using bitcoin, or any other currency, will not get you in trouble. In the case, you are caught cheating or match-fixing you most likely will be heavily charged and may get sentenced to pay a big fine or even spend time in prison.
That is if you are the one of the executive/s carrying out the scam. If you happen to take part while something of that nature is going on you may be asked to testify, but chances are you will be left alone without any charges pressed as you are considered to be a victim rather than a partner in crime.
Which US States Accept Online Gambling
Gambling online using bitcoin isn’t prohibited itself by the US government, but some things are considered illegal in many states. To be considered illegal the act of gambling online using bitcoin can be determined by two things: whether online gambling is considered legal where you live, and if bitcoin is legal as a currency.
There are laws in some states that say it is illegal for someone to use the money to gamble online but they do not refer to the gamblers. They refer to the banking system, meaning whether the bank you choose to withdraw funds from and deposit online accepts to make the transaction. This is the illegal part, and the blame will go to the bank and not the player.
Here is where bitcoin comes in to save the day. Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency (or cryptocurrency) meaning there is no particular bank behind it to authorise transactions or any other issues it may be related to. The biggest advantage of bitcoin is that you keep your anonymity while playing online and thus it is legal to gamble with bitcoin in the US or any other part of the world you live in, providing of course that bitcoin is considered legal there.
Now, that you know who the legal system targets more, it is about time to find out how the government tries to stop American citizens from gambling online. Rather than issuing laws to prevent the players the Department of Justice just doesn’t provide a license to online casinos that wish to operate from within the United States. It is a drastic measure taken by the majority of countries all around the globe.
So how do owners of such websites bypass the law? Mainly they decide to base their organisation in places not affected so much by such laws like Panama, Curacao, Malta, Costa Rica and the Philippines which are just a few of them.
On top of that, America’s Department of Justice has found another way to respond to that by making banks that authorise transactions to online casinos based anywhere in the world lose their license. But America doesn’t have a law stating transactions used to purchase or sell bitcoin is considered illegal thus giving online gamblers a loophole to operate within.
Which Online Casinos Accept Bitcoin In The US
Because of the previously discussed reasons, not all bitcoin casinos allow players living in the US. Although three of the best online bitcoin casinos that do indeed accept US players are:
Bitcoin Penguin
Bitcoin Penguin doesn’t accept only US players, but it is also an international online casino that takes only cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin. It features a vast selection of 600+ games meaning it is guaranteed that you will find something you like playing.
7bit casino
Another international online casino which accepts Bitcoin, Dollars and Euro as currencies. The bonuses it provides aren’t so special on its own, but what keeps the fame of the casino up is the 1000+ games available to players.
mBit casino
Apart from the 110% welcoming bonus, mBit casino is almost the same as 7bit casino when it comes to the selection of currencies to play with (as you can’t deposit Dollars) and the huge variety of 900+ games gamblers can freely choose from.
All three of them are certified as “provably fair” so it is entirely safe to bet on using bitcoin.
Where Can You Play Poker with Bitcoin in The US
Again, we will only mention three of the best online casinos you can play Poker with Bitcoin as your currency. These are:
mBit casino
Mbit casino takes place in both lists, and it is the sole one doing so. The main reason is that on top of the big game library it features a significant percentage of them are Poker related, both video Poker and table ones included.
Fortunejack Casino
This online casino is not only famous for the many slot games it provides but also for the fantastic Poker tournaments it holds every weekend which feature “high” prizes when it comes to winning money by participating in them.
Betcoin.ag Casino
This casino is one of the favourites and has a strong presence in the industry, mainly because it features its bespoke Poker playing software. Players can download it and play on both regular tables and tournament ones.
Once again all of them are certified to be “provably fair”.
So Is It Legal to Gamble with Bitcoin in The US
The answer to this question is for the most part yes. There will always be efforts by the government to stop any form of transactions that may lead money to get out of the nation’s reach and thus lower the amount of money available within the country. That isn’t necessarily bad as some other countries have become victims of actions like online gambling is.
What you have to remember is that online gambling and especially gambling online while using bitcoin isn’t illegal by itself, but there may be more general laws stating prohibitions of gambling or online gambling as a whole that may contradict with that.
Although another thing to know is it that every transaction carried out using bitcoin is recorded on a database commonly known as “blockchain”. Each person using bitcoin has a unique digital address, which is also linked with the person’s digital wallet (where bitcoins are stored). This doesn’t mean, though, that there is a total anonymity protecting the user as anyone using Blockchain can see the transactions carried out by a particular address.
At present, there is no law either in the US or anywhere else in the world that prohibits the purchase, sale or use of bitcoins but that doesn’t mean there may be other laws concerning gambling or online gaming, in general, that might contradict using bitcoin to gamble online. So as it follows it’s natural that using bitcoin isn’t welcome while residing in such countries.
Given all the previously discussed point, yes it is legal to gamble with bitcoin in the US. One only has to keep in mind all the different ways using bitcoin might contradict with the laws issued specifically in the state a person currently lives in. Purchases and sale of bitcoins can be carried out by multiple applications such as Coinbase which is the most popular choice for bitcoin lovers out there.
So to sum up, as long as you are careful and don’t mess with the legal system by trying to cheat or tamper with it, you are ready to go and have nothing to be scared of. Just be sure to check that the online casino you play in is certified as “provably fair” and accepts players from the US, as many of them do not allow gamblers based in America.
Are you aware of any other online casinos that allow players with Bitcoin? Share with us in the comments below!
