Cryptocurrencies like the headline act, which is Bitcoin, and its primary peer, Ethereum, often hit the headlines for their price increases and decreases. Used as an investment vehicle by brokers, the original purpose of Bitcoin was to be a peer-to-peer payment network unburdened by politics and the whims of a central bank. In theory, the set-up on the blockchain allows crypto to be the perfect form of currency in our increasingly digital world.
Of course, the world rarely allows for anything to be perfect, and the volatility of prices that swing with investors and even the social media posts of a particular billionaire certainly make owning crypto seem risky. Still, there are inherent benefits to using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum for your casino deposits and withdrawals that could make crypto your preferred payment method when iGaming.
Advantages of Using Crypto For Online Casino Play
Many of the biggest selling points that helped to entice a whole community of crypto users equally apply to the likes of bitcoin and ether being superb forms of payment. Due to how the blockchain works, with its verifications and private key security measures, transactions are both transparent and private, safe, and secure. Stacks of details don’t come through on your bank statement, for example, and remain within the blockchain’s ledger.
Forbes highlights these elements among the main advantages of cryptocurrency. Alongside these, there’s also the fact that crypto is accessible to everyone with an online connection, with the whole scene being decentralized and beholden only to itself. Once you have your crypto, you’ll find transactions to be swift and cost-effective. This is particularly true when you look at the fees applied to international payments compared to ones using crypto.
Seeing the benefits to the players and how useful such a system can be for a business, some pioneering online casinos have built their offerings around crypto payments. A big part of the glowing Mystake casino details its crypto commitment, with the platform designed as a hub for crypto gaming. There are over 7,000 games and all can be played with crypto, bonuses are in crypto, and you can withdraw in crypto.
Disadvantages of Using Crypto for Online Casino Play
One of the biggest barriers to crypto ownership and usage is the process itself. As is laid out in this guide from Investopedia, you need to go to an online exchange, buy the crypto, and assign it to your digital wallet. Digital wallets don’t actually store your coins, just act as your private keys to the coins on the blockchain. There are many kinds of wallets, from apps to physical hardware, but getting used to this process can be a bit of a test.
This links to one of the main cons of crypto. If you lose your private keys, you won’t be able to access your crypto. You can’t provide another form of proof of ownership, so losing your wallet loses your coins. Furthermore, on most blockchains, there isn’t a course for cancellation or refund on transactions. So, once you clear a payment, it’s done.
A mistakenly large deposit to a casino isn’t too much of a hit, though, as you can just withdraw it back.
Cryptocurrencies as a payment method offer a great many perks that facilitate the entertainment activity of online casino play. With a good understanding of the process of being a crypto owner, the pros tend to outweigh the cons.