Are bitcoin casinos safe to use?

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Jeffrey | Poker Strategy

Since bitcoins came along in 2009, there has been much debate in all quarters about their legality, and safety. In more recent times, the use of bitcoins in casinos has become a lot more commonplace. In fact, many of the top casinos now offer you the possibility of playing and wagering using bitcoins. There are even bitcoin-only accepting casino sites out there. With so many casinos offering bitcoins, surely they are safe to use? The answer is not as clear cut as that, and here is why, as well as some of the other perks and disadvantages of using bitcoins when playing at online casinos.

Not necessarily the future

Some casinos swear by them, and say that bitcoins are the future of the online casino world. That is a bold statement, and one that is certainly not true at all. Since they first appeared at casinos, bitcoins have had moments of sheer popularity, and moments of sheer decline. Both sides of the bitcoin (so to speak), can be seen. Despite its relative safety over the last few years, many players are still reluctant to use bitcoins, and with good reason. They are an overly complex system for placing bets at the very least.

Safety and security

There is no one-way about it. Bitcoin casinos can be safe, and may not be. Some bitcoin-only casinos are fully regulated, and those that are certainly going to be safe to play at. Independent auditors will check for fairplay and security, so you shouldn’t have any worries. Similar good things can be said of casinos which offer plenty of different payment methods including bitcoin. Any major casinos offering bitcoin will be safe and secure to play at.

However, if an online casino doesn’t appear to be licensed, and is not regulated, there is every chance that they are going to take you for a ride. These scam sites first cropped up at the same time as legit bitcoin casinos, so it can sometimes be hard to tell them apart.

Benefits of playing at bitcoin casinos

One of the perks of playing with bitcoins at casinos is that they do not require any of your personal banking information. This does, of course, make playing with bitcoin very safe. Bitcoins are also rather nifty because they bypass fees. There are no fees or transaction delays with bitcoins, so you can always get hold of your money fast, and free of charge. It is also worth mentioning that they offer a certain degree of anonymity, so that you can claim your wins in secret, and withdraw them in private. This is especially handy if you happen to be playing at a casino which you are not supposed to be playing at, such as a gambler playing online at an offshore site when their own country forbids online gambling.

Disadvantages of bitcoin casinos

One of the main disadvantages of playing with bitcoins is that the value of them constantly changes. You may think that your winnings and withdrawals are much better than what you put in, but that may or may not be the case depending on the value of bitcoins at the time you withdraw. Aside from the obvious (scam sites), this seems to be the only real drawback with bitcoins. The value of bitcoins can plummet rather rapidly with the changing world, and that can have an adverse effect on your gaming.

A work in progress

Although there are very few issues with safety when you are playing at a bitcoin accepting casino (provided you check for regulators and licenses), bitcoins are still very fiddly. They are very difficult to mine (the cheapest process used to obtain them), so you must rely on bitcoin exchanges to get hold of yours. The way they work also takes a lot of reading up on, so you really need to know how the currency works before you try playing with them.

In many cases, this may be too much work for somebody who just wishes to spin a few reels. Anybody who says that bitcoins are the way forward for the online casino world, is obviously a die-hard fan, and is ignoring the obvious. Yes, bitcoin casinos are – by and large – safe places to play your favourite casino games, but the payment method itself is fiddly, complex, and laden with gambles when it comes to their valuation.

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