Bitcoin was the very first cryptocurrency, and it was created back in 2009. Not a single person could imagine how big it would get when it comes to a transaction carried out over the Internet.
After some years due to the supply and demand rule, its price skyrocketed, and many online casinos started accepting the famous cryptocurrency.
Today we are going to teach you the ins and outs of using Bitcoin for online gambling. You will learn how to get a hold of some and how to use them to your advantage to make a side income.
What Is Bitcoin
Just like previously mentioned, Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency ever to be created by Satoshi Nakamoto, whom we still don’t know if it was the code name of a single person or a small.
It is a digital currency used online for anonymous safe transactions between people or businesses.
It is a decentralised currency, and that means that no banks or banking system of any sort has jurisdiction over the transactions made using it.
It is based on the blockchain technology which is a system that keeps track of all the transaction made since the beginning of Bitcoin. The blockchain is made of “blocks” which are, as the name suggests so, relating to each other.
Through the blocks is how the Bitcoin is created, by a process called “mining” which essentially is the act of consistently keeping a record of both the old and the new transactions entering the current block.
The concept of Bitcoin and the public ledger called blockchain are too complicated to analyse further in this article so if you want to find out more just do a quick search on the Internet.
Where Can You Buy Bitcoin
Buying some of this cryptocurrency has never been as easy as it is now. You just open your browser and visit an exchange site. Some of the most popular ones are Coinbase, Bitfinex, BitPanda, and various others.
All of them work on the same fundamental values, but each has unique features the others don’t.
Coinbase
Coinbase which is by far the most popular exchange site lets you purchase Bitcoin as well as two other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum and Litecoin.
You only have to visit their site and sign up. After that, you have to create a cryptocurrency wallet which we will talk about in the next segment of the article.
Afterwards, you just provide your bank account or credit/debit card details, select the amount of Bitcoin you want to purchase and proceed to pay. That was it. The only thing left for you to do now is to find a gambling site and start playing with Bitcoin.
Bitfinex
Now, imagine a more significant brother of Coinbase. This is Bitfinex where you can buy and sell the same exact cryptocurrencies either by using the site or their mobile app, just like you can with Coinbase.
Bitfinex is very different though, as to the number of tools you have available to you. Sophisticated analytics software and various other helpful resources to give you the edge on how and when it is the right time to exchange your Bitcoin for fiat currencies.
BitPanda
BitPanda, on the other hand, provides some more cryptocurrencies that its users can buy or sell and is mostly targeted towards European citizens.
The verification process is slightly different and lengthy, but it is one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges.
There are also special BitcoinATMs that let people buy, sell, or exchange Bitcoin but they are so few and hold hefty fees for any transactions that you would be better off not using them.
All three of the exchanges are excellent and provide you with a free cryptocurrency wallet.
But what exactly is it? Let’s take a look.
Different Kinds of Cryptocurrency Wallets
When it comes to cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin, the term “cryptocurrency wallet” is just what it sounds like – a digital wallet where you can store your bitcoins or any other form of digital currency.
There are two types of crypto-wallets, the free ones that most of the exchange sites will offer you and the hardware ones which is a bit more secure option, but they come at a price.
We have already mentioned Coinbase, Bitfinex, and BitPanda’s ability to provide their users with a free version. Each one of them has a unique address, and this is the one you will use whenever you wish to use some of your cryptocurrency or to link the wallet to an online profile on a gambling site.
Now, don’t get us wrong, they are great and relatively secure but if someone had access to the exchange site’s data they could easily transfer your bitcoins to another address.
Hence, the best option, especially if you cope with large amounts of Bitcoin, is to get a physical device. Most of them come in a shape of a USB stick, and some may even feature a small screen implemented on them.
The most well-known physical device of that sort is the Ledger Nano S.
Ledger is known for their high-quality products, and they have proved it once more with the new wallet device they sell. It is reasonably priced and looks stylish.
It even features a small screen which will display transaction details so you can check them out before pressing the buttons that authorise it.
Just like the Ledger Nano S, there are other ones like the TREZOR and KeepKey. All three choices offer a small screen, and their manufacturers provide a retrieval process in case you get robbed or lose your device.
Using Bitcoin For Online Gambling
Now that you know what Bitcoin is, how to purchase it, and where to use it, it is about high time we talk about how you can use the cryptocurrency to gamble online. Using Bitcoin for online gambling was never as easy as it currently is.
#1 Find a reliable Bitcoin-accepting online casino
After you do so, the process of using the cryptocurrency for gamble is straightforward.
#2 Sign up for the casino
Beware that if you get asked to provide personal details you shouldn’t. The whole point of using Bitcoin is to gamble anonymously. If something like that happens, try finding another online casino.
After you register, you will go to your profile dashboard. There you will be asked to connect your wallet to the account.
You just fill up the right address and any other boxes with the correct information, and you are good to go. Then the only thing remaining to do is actually to deposit some money into your account.
#3 Deposit money
Somewhere on the dashboard, you will see an option like “Top Up” or “Deposit Funds” or anything of that sort. You will fill in the amount you want to deposit to your account, and after you authorise the transaction, you are good to start gambling using Bitcoin.
Now, when it comes to picking a reputable online casino, there are plenty of choices. You could go with CloudBet which provides the highest welcome bonus up to 5BTC.
BitStarz is another excellent Bitcoin-accepting casino, one of the few actually with such a great selection of games available to play and with free spins no deposit bonus.
Benefits and Disadvantages of Gambling With Bitcoin
There are many pros and cons of Bitcoin gambling, but a great balance can be maintained all the time.
When you play with Bitcoin, you get anonymity. This means that not in a single place will your name appear, well unless you use your real name as your username on a gambling site, which we advise you not to do.
The price of Bitcoin at the time of this writing is equivalent to about 6,500 USD, and when you gamble online, you must consistently check the price.
You can make other amounts of money depending on when to exchange your bitcoins for real money. You could also keep on playing with your bitcoins without withdrawing so you can save on the transaction fees.
Remember when we talked about how Bitcoin is a decentralised currency and no banks are involved whatsoever?
That means the only fees you will have to pay when doing a transaction using Bitcoin are the ones that go into keeping the Blockchain running so that the whole system doesn’t collapse.
You will also get incredible bonuses when playing with it.
Traditional online casinos offer provide welcome bonuses of a couple of hundred dollars whereas Bitcoin ones will often award you with more than 1BTC. Using Bitcoin for online gambling can prove to be very profitable if done right, of course.
Read our guide to crypto casinos with the best bonuses to find out more.
There are also some drawbacks to the whole Bitcoin system.
If something wrong happened and the system collapsed you could lose all your bitcoins. Also when you buy Bitcoin, you still have to provide personal details to the exchange sites.
And the last one is that in case the online casino you play in will not for any reason authorise the transaction to get your earnings then the legal system of the country you live in couldn’t do something to help unless the actual casino runs from inside the country.
Conclusion
When it comes to using Bitcoin for online gambling, we hope our guide was insightful enough to help you understand how to use the famous cryptocurrency.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as we enjoyed writing it for you. If you follow our advice, then we can guarantee you a hassle-free online experience using Bitcoin.
Don’t forget to check our ranking of the best Bitcoin casinos and let us know if you have any questions in the comments below!
