INSIGHT
THE 10 BIGGEST MYTHS
ABOUT BITCOIN AND GAMBLING
More customers than you realise are using cryptocurrency for igaming, says Srdjan Kapor of
BitStarz casino. Here he busts the commonest myths about bitcoin that you may have heard from
both operators and gamers
1) I received commission in BTC
and can’t spend it anywhere
You’d be surprised how many companies
and major retailers accept bitcoin, and the
number is growing every day. Currently,
you can spend your bitcoin with Expedia,
Overstock, Microsoft, Subway, Steam and
many other places.
We suggest, however, that the best way
to spend your bitcoin would be to open an
account at a site such as Cryptopay.me,
where you can get a Visa debit card that is
directly linked to your bitcoin wallet. You
can choose between major currencies such
as EUR, GBP and USD and load your card
with BTC that automatically converts to the
currency of the card.
moved (up or down) because BTC’s value
still has a tendency to be volatile.
At BitStarz, you have the option of
making a deposit in BTC and converting
it to EUR. And, when you withdraw
money, we’ll give you the BTC value
of that EUR amount according to the
current BTC price.
Also, bitcoin cashouts are made at a
tremendous speed, which means that
volatility doesn’t necessarily need to
affect you.
3) Anything on the internet can
be hacked — bitcoin is next
What’s so good about bitcoin is that it
is decentralised. If you hack a bank, for
“What’s so great is that you can now use your BTC
anywhere a Visa card is accepted, thus giving you as
much freedom as a regular debit card”
What’s so great about this is that you can
now use your BTC anywhere a Visa card is
accepted, thus giving you as much freedom
as a regular debit card.
2) I will win less if the price
of bitcoin decreases while
I am playing
This of course depends on how you look
at it. If you’re thinking that the amount
of BTC that you play for will decrease
when you cash out because of potential
fluctuation in the BTC price, this won’t be
the case. If you are withdrawing 1 BTC
from your account, you will receive 1 BTC,
it’s as simple as that.
But the fiat value of this BTC amount
can of course increase or decrease while
you are playing, and most likely it will have
example, you need hack only one system
to be able to have access to its network and
cause damage, but this will never be an
issue with bitcoin.
On the contrary, everyone who uses
bitcoin is a part of the system, which
means you need to have control of over
50% of the people on the entire network
simultaneously in order to grasp control of
it. Just identifying 50% of the people on
the entire network is virtually impossible in
itself, and to hack all of them at the same
time is even harder.
It’s worth mentioning as well that the
power of the bitcoin network is more
than 250 times the combined power of
the world’s top 500 supercomputers,
which makes the risk of hacking
extremely unlikely.
4) Bitcoin is anonymous
There’s a big misconception that bitcoin
is entirely anonymous. Bitcoin is pseudo-
anonymous, in the sense that your name
is not linked to your bitcoin address,
but you still have a bitcoin address
that’s static and so it could technically
be linked to you.
It’s important also to know that if you
verify your identity with an exchange, you
now have a link between your identity and
a certain address.
When it comes to gambling, it’s important
to be aware that casinos might need to
comply with KYC (know your customer)
legislation, which means verification of
identity is required. It’s important that you
as a player are aware many casinos require
this, and it’s always recommended to read
the terms and conditions.
5) There is no advantage for any
casino player to deposit and
wager in bitcoins
Quite the contrary. There are plenty of
advantages for people using BTC, and
that’s why so many fiat currency players are
making the switch.
BTC is seen as digital cash, and what we
mean by that is that you have total control
over your own money. When you store fiat
currency (besides having cash in a wallet),
there’s always going to be a middleman,
taking either a cut or prolonging the time it
takes to make a transfer.
But when you’re using BTC, there’s no
third party in the transaction, meaning you
can make your transaction extremely fast.
Compare that to a card withdrawal from
your casino account, where you sometimes
have to wait up to three working days to get
your money.
iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT/NOV 2017
63