Bitcoin Online Casinos – What Are They All About?

What on Earth are casinos doing? Yep there are actually online casinos that accept Bitcoins. Less than ten years ago Bitcoins didn’t exist. Physically they still don’t! But what are they? Why have they suddenly become so popular? Bitcoin is a ‘crypto currency’ or a virtual currency that is created stored and processed exclusively online. The idea of ‘crypto currency’ had been floated around for some time before Bitcoin came online. The concept is a decentralized form of currency with no central bank or government in control. The currency is generated using a branch of mathematics called cryptography, which is also used to monitor transactions. Working as a peer to peer network with open-source software Bitcoin is a currency without one single body controlling it. With nobody controlling the system there is no infrastructure that needs to be funded so, there are no transaction fees associated with them. This is one of the reasons online casinos are starting to use Bitcoins.

How Are Bitcoins Made And Where Can You Get Them?

This is the complicated bit and to be fair it’s hard to believe it works. The P2P network uses a digital ledger called a block chain which is used to share all transaction details. So this ledger works because the individuals within the network use their hardware as ‘miners’ in exchange for currency. The ‘mining’ is a process where complex calculations are made using network members computers. These calculations generate the cryptographic proofs use to confirm and track transactions. Therefore no central bank involvement. Confused? Well at the moment it all seems to be working and Bitcoins are gaining a lot of attention. Getting your virtual hands on Bitcoins is not at all hard and there are dedicated market places and exchanges. Payment for them can be made with debit cards, cash, credit cards, wire transfer and some even take other crypto currencies. Bitcoins are traded much the same as other currencies and in its early days made a lot of people very rich.

The Bitcoin Wallet

There is a bit of confusion about how you go about storing your Bitcoin, its all about address and mathematical keys and more blah blah but you basically have options. You can download a ‘Bitcoin Wallet’which is basically an app. They are available for most operating systems, Mac OS, Linux and Windows desktops and for mobile Android, iOS and Windows Phone. The most secure Bitcoin wallet method is a USB stick drive to store your addresses on and at the other end of the scale there are web based wallets.

So What Does This All Mean And Where Are The Casinos?

Well the reality of it all is Bitcoin is still in its infancy. Due to the fact that there is no central bank controlling the currency it has meant some wild fluctuations have taken place. This instability has settled a bit and it hasn’t stopped Bitcoins progress in everyday life. Hugely popular in the US it is now gaining ground in the UK as well. But as far as online casinos go you will not find many as yet accepting Bitcoins. It is very likely to change in the not too distant future the main reason for casinos to use them is the lack of fees incurred by the casino. Every single other form of financial transaction has a fee. The main online casino using Bitcoin is Bitcasino.io they use the anonymity of Bitcoin as a major marketing tool. Watch this space to see who out of the big players take the plunge into ‘crypto currencies’

What Is The Reality For Users?

Depositing and withdrawal from your online casino using Bitcoin is much the same as an e-Wallet. Th main thing that is different is instead of an account number or e-mail address, you use a hexadecimal address key. Now this could be a 64 character code of letters and numbers but the majority of wallets use an import format shortening the code. A lot are now using QR codes that can be scanned in reducing the time to seconds. The currency is expanding and gaining a lot of credibility but it is still an unknown quantity for most people. And even some online brands that accepted Bitcoin have now pulled the service. It is a very interesting experiment and by no means is it alone. Since Bitcoin came online there are now several ‘crypto currencies’ to the extent that even the banking establishment are sitting up and taking notice. Possibly the biggest thing that may hold back Bitcoin is one of its major pluses. The fact that there is no regulation or control means there is no come back after a transaction is made. There is no way to get a refund or charge back. Once the transaction is made if there are any problems a refund would have to come from goodwill alone. Now so far this doesn’t seem to be a problem but it is a system ripe for the unscrupulous to abuse. It has to be said though anything that takes power away from banks has to be a good thing right?