Okay, guys, I believe that the time has finally come to talk about a rising star in the online casino world – bitcoin! Some of you may be going “Huh? Bitcoin? Are you talking about one of those novelty chocolate coins I usually pass by on my way to the cashier in the supermarket?” Others may be somewhat familiar with the term, but have no idea how it relates to online casinos whatsoever. Fear not, dear readers, for I shall explain everything… As clearly as I can within 500 words. If you’d like to know more, you can (and should always) do your own research on the matter, because this stuff is really fascinating!
What’s a bitcoin?
Anyway, bitcoin is a form of e-currency. You know how only 8% of the world’s currency is physical (coins and bills)? Well, the rest of it is all e-currency – money that only exists online, in stuff like bank records. We’re talking virtual dollars, virtual euro, virtual pounds, etc. Well, bitcoins are also a form of virtual currency, except they have no real life equivalent or a physical counterpart. They don’t belong to any one government (in fact, nobody’s 100% sure who created them, though there are theories), and as a result can’t be taxed, monitored or controlled in any way. They’re operated by a fully automatic system with no central location, which is being hosted on hundreds of thousands of computers that receive a tiny amount of bitcoin for dedicating processing power to them (a process known as “mining bitcoin”).
So, what are they used for?
The brief of it is that bitcoin are a form of untraceable virtual currency that doesn’t belong to any one government. And, considering the fact that it’s untraceable, it’s generally used for a lot of illegal activity. Popular deep web drug dealing site “Silk Road” accepts exclusively bitcoins, and you can also use them to buy other nasty stuff like weapons and illegal pornography. However, in the last 5-6 years, numerous very legitimate businesses have started to also accept the currency, and nowadays you can buy anything from clothes to action figures with bitcoin. Hell, in some countries there’s terminals where you can even pay your bills with them! How cool is that?! And, naturally, plenty of online casinos have started to explore the possibility of using bitcoin for deposits and withdrawals. While none of the big names, like 888, have fully implemented this new form of currency quite yet, there are plenty of others who have made it their whole gimmick! And I know what you’re thinking – “Online casinos that deal in untraceable online-only currency? That sounds suspiciously sketch”. That’s what I thought as well, but don’t worry, these casinos are no different from their traditional currency counterparts and are subject to the same certification and verification. As a matter of fact, you can check out a whole bunch of them which have been tested and verified by independent sources right here!
If you didn’t know what bitcoins were up until now, well, hopefully you’re just a little bit smarter! And if you did, then maybe you’d be willing to give these new online casinos a shot! And who knows, perhaps I’ll see you at the blackjack table sometime! Hmm, how much did one bitcoin cost in pounds right now, anyway…