5 Critical Ways Bitcoin Makes Gambling Online Better
5 Ways Bitcoin makes gambling better
Just as the world was ushering in the new millennium, gambling was growing exponentially online. The new platform was revolutionary. Now players could place bets on craps, blackjack and roulette from the comfort of their homes, through desktops and smart devices, in casinos operating from any part the world.
Nevertheless, this form of gambling needed more to flourish; high cost of participation, mistrust, and frequent cash flow delays as well as numerous fraud incidences still held it back. In 2008, an anonymous person by the name Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin. This digital peer-to-peer currency has presented the answers to most of these problems.
The following are five ways the online gambling industry is better off using Bitcoin:
1. Near Zero Transaction Costs
Traditionally, to place a stake online, you have to go through an expensive process of transferring your USD, GBP, Euros, Yuan or whatever national currency. Payment processors like PayPal, Skrill and Western Union, made online expensive with their hefty transaction fees.
On the other hand, using Bitcoin to transfer the values attract close to zero costs. This is because much of the cost is taken care of by the new bitcoin rewards miners, who maintain the network. This makes it a sustainable way of transmitting money to both the casinos and the players. Also, because you are essentially using the cryptocurrency to make deposits and withdrawals, you do not incur any currency conversion fees.
2. Borderless Gambling
Although, in theory, online gambling made it possible for players to take part in betting odds hosted anywhere around the world, the reality was far much different. Both financial and industry regulators have pushed for limitations on payments processed to and from offshore casinos. Therefore, if you are located in a region where gambling is prohibited, you may encounter difficulty finding a payment company that will process your deposits or withdrawal funds into or out of an offshore online casino business.
For instance, most American banks decline money transfer involving Americans gambling online. This is to protect their licenses given that they have to observe laws such as the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Bitcoin overcomes this hurdle. Since it is a decentralized currency, no one can stop you from sending money to any part of the world. Indeed, you can gamble anywhere as long as the site accepts and pays out in Bitcoin.
3. Peer to Peer Gambling $ Provable Fair
Normal gambling requires a middleman to act as the house. They set up a server, play host, run bets, collect funds and pay out winnings. On your part as a player, this means you have to trust that the site is legitimate and will execute as promised. Unfortunately, there are many cases of fraudulent casinos.
Apart from a decentralized currency, the blockchain technology on which bitcoin is built has made P2P gambling possible. In this arrangement, no middle people are required. Instead betting odds, complete with probability stakes, are set up to pay automatically out into addresses using escrows and smart contracts.
In addition, the hashing technology that the Bitcoin network uses for security has been adopted to make centralized online casinos transparent. This is popularly known as the Provable Fair technology. In it, the casino provides the players with data that they can use through hashing to proof that a game was not compromised. Online casinos do not have to accept bitcoin (the currency) to use this technology.
4. Identity Protection through Anonymous gambling
As part of using the fiat channels of transmitting money such as credit cards and PayPal, you have to share a lot of personal data. This is necessary for the payment processors to meet the KYC and AML requirements. The same demands apply to online gambling as well, and thus you cannot play anonymously like you will do in a brick and mortar casino.
The nature of Bitcoin is such that there is no intermediary authority to enforce any rules over how or where to spend your digital currency. Most importantly, it allows you to send money without sharing any personal information above the Bitcoin public address. Of course, not all online casinos that accept Bitcoin allow anonymous participation. However, if you value anonymity, you should not worry because there are many sites that will not turn you away for not sharing your personal details.
5. Instant Transfers, No Chargebacks
Traditional financial payment channels take a lot of time to complete transfers. Usually is more than 24 hours to receive or send funds via international wire. For offshore sites, located halfway across the world, processing times may take even longer. During this delay, your funds are locked up while they could have been wagered elsewhere. Also, there is also the likelihood that the payee might call back the payment. Chargeback happens to be a major fraud in online gambling.
On the other hand Bitcoin payments are instantaneous and are not subject to a chargeback. Indeed, the transactions move as fast as the email over Internet wire. It does not matter the distance; it will take between 5 minutes to an hour, in the worst of cases. Any excess time over 5 minutes is usually as a precaution. Moreover, through the blockchain, you are always in the position to see when funds enter or leave your Bitcoin address.
Conclusion
Although Bitcoin is not yet mainstream, online bitcoin casinos such as Betchain or Bitstarz have embraced it. This is because the cryptocurrency offers players a cost effective, frictionless, private and reliable gambling experience. We are strong believers in Bitcoin ourselves and recommend it to anyone.