Online gambling sites have banking suites that try to accommodate a varied host of bettors. A lot of bettors have used prepaid cards to fund their online casino, poker and sportsbook accounts due to their simplistic nature and lack of attachment to players’ personal information. However, cryptocurrencies are beginning to grow in popularity for several reasons, and the best alternative currency on the market is Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s widespread use is indicative of users’ preferences and could spell the end for prepaid cards on online gambling sites.
First things first—what is Bitcoin? As previously mentioned, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, otherwise known as a digital currency or alternative currency. It made its market debut in 2009 and has been building ever since. Bitcoins are not created or regulated through any sort of centralized bank, but rather created electronically through a process known as mining. Regulation falls into the hands of its users on a peer-to-peer system where miners verify each transaction as it comes through the Blockchain. The Blockchain is like a digital ledger that stores all the Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoins themselves are stored in digital wallets.
One of the biggest advantages to Bitcoin is its anonymity. Much like prepaid cards, Bitcoin transactions do not have any sensitive personal information attached to them. All that is required to conduct a Bitcoin transaction is your digital wallet address (which is unique to each wallet) and a digital signature. Anonymity is appreciated by some online gambling users who would rather not put their personal information out there.
Another upside to using Bitcoin is there are no additional fees, including conversion rates, applied to transactions due to its independent status from any bank or country. The only time an extra fee can be incurred is when you are trying to speed up your processing time with transactions, however these fees are paid by the user at their own discretion. One of Bitcoin’s shortcomings is that the Blockchain storage space can only handle so many transactions. Miners can only process so many transactions at a time due to the sheer volume of transactions being made. Even still, most reputable online gambling sites encourage the use of Bitcoin because it is the fastest transaction method available.
The reason online gambling baking suites try to be so accommodating is because many countries have their own gambling laws in place regarding online currency transactions. The US is an example of one country that limits their citizens’ available currency methods with online gambling sites. In some cases, US bettors are not even allowed to use prepaid cards—only credit/debit cards and Bitcoin. Even if prepaid gambling cards are an available option, they do not come with the same perks as Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is accepted in most countries throughout the world with only a few exceptions. When it comes to online gambling, Bitcoin is an available deposit and withdrawal method offered to users in most cases. This level of access is enticing to Bitcoin users because they can depend on one currency form between all the online gambling sites they use.
There are even online casino bonuses offered exclusively to Bitcoin users. Bonuses are additional percentages added to deposits that give players more money to bet with. All players have access to bonuses, regardless of their preferred currency form, but Bitcoin is the only currency with an exclusive bonus often attached to it. Here is a list of Bitcoin gambling sites that offer huge bonuses to new players for using the cryptocurrency.
Prepaid cards are still a viable option for bettors, however the advantages offered to and for Bitcoin users are enough to entice players to switch over. It is the most exchanged alternative currency form on the market and only seems to be growing. In time, the cryptocurrency looks poised to take over as the top preferred transaction method for US bettors.