In the first part of this article, I explained the advantages of using Bitcoin to deposit and withdraw money at a betting website instead of using traditional methods like a Credit or Debit card. In this article, I will explain betting with bitcoin in more detail and talk about some new Bitcoin services.
1. Is betting with Bitcoin completely anonymous?
Betting with Bitcoin is not completely anonymous because signing up with a Bitcoin exchange market will often involve having to submit some form of official documents for verification purposes.
However…
When you deposit or withdraw money at an online betting website using Bitcoin, no transaction will appear on your bank statement. This means that there is no way that anyone would know if you’re betting online, unless they had direct access to your Bitcoin Wallet.
2. Why would I need to bet with Bitcoin?
Online gambling is illegal in many countries, which means you can get into a lot of trouble for depositing and withdrawing money on betting websites using methods that are linked to you personally such as a Credit Card, Debit Card or Bank Transfer. Bitcoin is different, because there is no paper trail attached to your Bank Account. This means that it is almost impossible for someone to know that you are betting online when you fund your account using Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a great way to deposit and withdraw funds at online betting websites because there will never be a record of gambling transactions on your Bank account.
Another reason why you may want to consider betting with Bitcoin, is because many Financial institutions frown upon gambling. In some countries, Banks and lenders will reduce the amount of money they will let you borrow if they see gambling transactions on your Bank statement. This makes getting approved for Mortgages and Loans very difficult. Depositing and withdrawing funds at online betting websites using Bitcoin protects you from this because there is no way that the Banks and Financial Institutions can see that you’re betting online.
3. Where can I bet with Bitcoin?
Most online betting websites now accept Bitcoin as a deposit and withdrawal method. If Bitcoin isn’t listed as a deposit and withdrawal method on a betting website, you should contact their customer service team directly because most betting websites are more than happy to process deposits and withdrawals using Bitcoin.
Online betting websites actually prefer to process deposits and withdrawals using Bitcoin, because Bitcoin transactions are free. This saves them money because they often have to pay a 2% – 5% fee on Credit and Debit card transactions.
4. Is betting with Bitcoin free?
Depositing money into an online betting website using Bitcoin is free on almost every website. Some websites charge a small fee for withdrawals, but the majority of them are free.
5. Bitcoin Markets – Limits and Verification
Before you’re able to deposit funds into a betting website using Bitcoin, you have to purchase Bitcoin from a Bitcoin exchange. Most Bitcoin exchanges like Coinbase offer a one stop shop for all your Bitcoin needs.
For example… Coinbase allows you to purchase Bitcoin on their website and you can also request withdrawals from online betting websites that can be paid straight into your Coinbase account. Think of Coinbase as the Paypal for Bitcoin, because it enables you to deposit and withdraw funds through their website.
Websites like Coinbase make buying and withdrawing Bitcoin easy, but they are more difficult to setup because you need to verify your account with some form of ID, such as a copy of your Passport or Drivers License. I personally don’t have any issue with these verification checks, but it does mean that the amount of Bitcoin you can buy on a new account is limited. This is a big problem if you have a big bankroll and need to deposit large sums of money into betting websites.
By completing certain verification checks, you can increase the limits you can deposit in time, but it’s probably going to take at least a few weeks for you to get setup with a good Bitcoin exchange website like Coinbase.
It’s important to remember that Bitcoin will play an important part in the future of online gambling and it’s important to go through the inconvenience of setting up now, so that you don’t run into problems later on down the line. It is becoming more and more difficult to bet online in many countries, but Bitcoin offers a solution to this problem. I highly recommend that you set up an account with a Bitcoin exchange now, so when the time comes you are already an established customer and have higher limits at your chosen Bitcoin exchange.
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New Bitcoin products and services
I personally believe that Coinbase is the best all round Bitcoin service because their website makes it easy to buy Bitcoin and they also make it easy to withdraw your Bitcoin to your bank account.
I talked about a few other Bitcoin services in the Coinbase and I now want to talk about some excellent new Bitcoin services that have been released over the last few months.
1. Circle
Circle is a new Bitcoin exchange that makes it really easy to deposit money into an online betting website using Bitcoin. All you need to do is get your account verified with some form of ID and then you can fund your account with a Credit card, Debit card or by Bank Transfer.
I am really impressed by Circle, because most Bitcoin exchanges require you to purchase Bitcoin first and then send the Bitcoin onto someone else. Circle is different, because it enables you to pay someone in Bitcoin, directly from your payment method. This is a really cool feature because it makes the process of paying for products and services using Bitcoin a lot less complicated.
Here is a snapshot of what you see on the homepage:
This is the send money tab that shows how easy it is to send Bitcoin. It was as easy as just selecting “BTC” from a drop down menu:
2. Hive Bitcoin Wallet
Hive Bitcoin Wallet is not a full service company. They are just a cloud based wallet that allow you to store your money securely online.
Hive Bitcoin Wallet is almost 100% anonymous because they don’t ask for any personal information. All they need is an email address and it’s up to you what email address you want to give them.
Why do you need a Hive Bitcoin wallet?
Technically you don’t, but its good to be a few steps ahead of the game. I’ve always wondered whether some of the Bitcoin services can detect if you are sending money to a betting website, so it’s good to have something simple like Hive Bitcoin Wallet to transfer your Bitcoin to the betting websites.
I also really like the clean user interface of Hive Bitcoin Wallet and how easy it is to use. Take a look for yourself…
I would love to hear what you guys think about these Bitcoin products. I’d also love to hear about some of the Bitcoin products and services that you are using. Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, mmadog.com or on the forums if you’d like to talk about betting with Bitcoin in more detail.
Very nice follow up article. I agree on pretty much everything here. I primarily use Armory, because of some safety features I like, but I started with Hive and I still use their service and would recommend it as a great first wallet.
I am a big believer in Bitcoin, possibly along with other cryptological currencies. I think there is a very real chance that the current economical structures of the world won´t survive that much longer (maybe only months, possibly a few years) and I predict that as the next big financial crisis hit us it will be a very global event and that there is a very real chance that things like Bitcoin value will go moon bound. Whatever way you feel about this, if you agree or not, I think it is wise to keep at least a minuscule part of your money in Bitcoin (or I may come back and haunt you with the dreaded words “I told you so…”) ;). If I am right, the train is still right here to be joined, now, before it leaves…
Three BTC services I am currently interested in
I don´t have an account with Xapo yet, but I see that they now offer a plastic card, connected to your Bitcoin wallet. I will get one and check them out. (www.xapo.com)
http://www.vaultoro.com I can´t vouch for them either and I just recently became aware of them. But they let you exchange between Bitcoin and gold (real physical gold, that can be sent to you). I like gold 🙂
I just started lending Bitcoins on http://www.bitbonds.com. This is Very experimental, but I did some checks on the German firm behind it and decided to trust them with some money I can afford to loose. There are many things I lack in that website, but I am fascinated that I was able to lend money to people across the world and that I will get bitcoin payments with interest every month.
I am in business with a good friend to hopefully deliver some new and exciting services to this market. We are still very early on in our research and as is the case with most start-ups it will take some time to see if we can be successful with this. I will let you guys know for sure once we know that we will follow through with our plan.
My advise is, invest now, even if it´s just a few dollars worth. Then convince your friends to get some too and whenever possible, choose to use Bitcoin. Higher transaction volumes will speed up both the technical development and the value of our coins + it´s more fun than using fiat money ++ we cut out the banks (always a good thing)
Last but not least, let me end with a quote from a very wise man
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Nordic, its funny u mention debit card. That is exactly the feature I am waiting on with cryptopay. They supposedly have a fully usable bitcoin debit card that you use your bitcoin balance from.
I think that feature will allow me to have much higher amounts in BTC as it can be more liquid in my day to day life if I were to need it.
I’m glad you liked the article I will check out some of the services you mentioned today
Big believer in bitcoin here. Lovely article! Currently using a hardware wallet called Ledger Wallet. A tad bit more secure than local machine wallet or a web based wallet. And for mobile I use Mycelium.
General tip. You should always be able to control/own the private key. If a wallet service (coinbase/circle/blockchain) owns the private key. The risk of losing that wallet are high.
Betting with BTC is interesting too! Will take a look into some services.
Anxpro.com acquired coinmarket, where I bought my first half bitcoin. I found it still in the account when they sent me an email that the company had changed owners. A bit mad with myself that I forgot the money in the account, but like finding bills in old clothes, nice ti stumble upon 0,5btc, lol
Anyway, I just saw that they also offer a debitcard, connected to your btc wallet. I will order one and give it a try. This emerging connection with plastic cards could really change the playing field a lot.
its really smart for them. they can charge a few bucks in processing fees or atm fees and really grow the BTC market
Allsop why would you say betting with Bitcoin isn’t anonymous because one is not anonymous with an exchange?
As long as you your book generates new funding addresses automatically, and you use a new one every time, nobody can really correlate where any transfer is going, whether it be to a bookie or elsewhere?
Signing up with an exchange isn’t anonymous, but the betting is?
Err, guess Dog wad the author, not Allsop, apologies