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People have been gambling over the internet since 1996. At the start of this sphere, the only accepted payment method was credit/debit cards. In the early-2000s, e-wallets entered the mix, and a decade later, cryptocurrencies made their way onto the payment pages of online gambling sites.
Today, the crypto niche has gotten so vast that hundreds of platforms exist exclusively dedicated to coin-base betting. Moreover, multiple top brand casinos have adopted Bitcoin and other altcoins as viable transaction options.
Hence, it is no longer strange that someone would choose to wager with digital money when attempting to see if Lady Luck is in their corner, playing games of chance on the Web. Cryptos, of which Bitcoin is the most established, offer various perks and are slowly becoming, in general, one of the most popular payment methods.
You can learn more about Bitcoin casino deposits at OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos.com, or you can check out the subheadings that follow for a detailed explanation concerning Bitcoin and how it enhances the online gambling experience for many.
What Is Blockchain Technology?
Those that have done any degree of research into the crypto sphere have likely heard of the term blockchain. It refers to an immutable ledger that facilitates the tracking of assets within a network. In the context of cryptocurrencies, these assets are virtual money.
These digital ledgers are ideal for delivering information because they provide transparent data transfers that can get swiftly performed by only a permitted network of members. Users can utilize a blockchain network to track payments, orders, accounts, and more.
The ledger technology implemented only allows transactions to get recorded once, eliminating the dangers of duplications. No blockchain participant can tamper with a transfer after it is marked on the shared spreadsheet. If one includes an error, another one must get added to reverse this irregularity.
The name blockchain derives from this technology using data blocks that form irreversible chains that document how assets change ownership. These get linked securely together and prevent any block from getting inserted between two existing ones, with each additional one strengthening the verification of the previous, making the ledger tamper-evident.
When Did Casinos Start Accepting It?
The first set of Bitcoin gaming platforms appeared online in 2011. They were mainly provably fair dice sites, but after their debut, cryptocurrencies also quickly got adopted by poker platforms.
Provably fair technology is essential for the growth of crypto gambling because it kicked off this betting genre by appealing to the most hardcore coin fanatics. It implements an algorithm that verifies the fairness of online casino games, relinquishing gamblers of the fear that an operator may be ripping them off. The system works via three variables. The first is a sever seed provided by the site, a client one given by a player’s browser, and a cryptographic nonce, a number that grows parallel to the wagers made.
The process involved in guaranteeing total transparency during the result generation process is a bit outside of the scope of this article. In short, the operator creates a random seed number that gets hashed (shorten), encrypted, and sent to a gambler. In turn, the player’s browser arbitrarily generates its seed, and once both are present, they interact to fashion the wager result.
The nonce, which increases with each bet, plays a role in choosing a randomizable action in the selected game. At the end of the round, the gambler gets access to the unencrypted version of the client seed to check the fairness of the entire process, which he can do through an on-site verifier.
Provably fair games are still a thing at most Bitcoin casinos, but once these platforms began to get licensed by credible regulators in 2014, they started to focus more on offering advanced slots.
Enhanced Security & Fast Transactions
All cryptocurrencies incorporate cryptographic technology as a central part of their protocol. For example, the world’s original digital coin, Bitcoin, utilizes SHA-256 encryption for transaction verification and its Proof-of-Work system.
As mentioned above, a blockchain is a string of multiple data blocks that contain transaction history information. The first one bears the name the genesis block, and solved hashes and transactions add new blocks after this one creating the blockchain.
Bitcoins get stored in wallets, which can be mobile, desktop, and hardware ones. However, unlike e-wallets, these pocketbooks don’t hold any virtual currency themselves. They contain a public key used to retire them, which acts similarly to a bank account number. It also has a private key that verifies ownership.
On average, a Bitcoin transaction should go through within ten minutes. That’s the average transaction confirmation timeframe for this crypto.
Bitcoin Promotions
Because cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin included, do not get regulated by financial institutions or government bodies, meaning there is no oversight regarding their use, they are the desired payment choice for many. For this reason, and that crypto transfers get processed far quicker than fiat ones, operators prefer that their patrons use them on their betting journeys.
Accordingly, gambling companies seek to stimulate Bitcoin use at gambling sites by offering crypto bonuses that are usually far more generous than their fiat counterparts. In some cases, these can be twice more lucrative for players. Furthermore, there are specific crypto-exclusive promo deals such as chat rain, free faucets, and others offered by Bitcoin platforms only.
The Cons of Using Bitcoin for Online Gambling
While Bitcoin use at online casinos may have many pros, there are also a few drawbacks to playing with digital money. The most notable one is the price volatility that cryptocurrencies boast. In April 2024, BTC reached an all-time high of $64,800 per unit, but in 2024, it dropped to $17,800. So, the price of this currency form, and all other digital coins, can fluctuate dramatically, meaning they can lose value while they rest in your gaming balance.
Another danger is that network changes will inevitably occur as demand grows and coins become more widely accessible. That can and has caused scalability problems in the past. Also, all Bitcoin transactions are permanent. They get processed directly, with no intermediaries present. So, if someone sends coins to the wrong address, there is no recourse to getting those funds back.
To Sum Up
With everything stated in the subheading above, the benefits of enjoying casino-style products with Bitcoin far outweigh the negatives. Sticking to sites that offer only provably fair titles such as dice and Plinko and a gambler keeping their winnings in Bitcoin is a terrific way to remain anonymous when betting online and avoiding paying taxes on accumulated prizes.
