Bitcoin casinos

From complete anonymity, safety and privacy to unique games, Bitcoin casinos make a lot of promises. But to they live up to them? We’ve considered all the risks players are exposed to when gambling with Bitcoin and also all the perks it comes with. Is it safe to play at a No KYC casino? Is it even legal to gamble using cryptocurrencies? Players may find out below what they need to be aware of and how to minimize risks on their Bitcoin gambling journey.

Bitcoin History & Overview – what is it and how it started

The birth of Bitcoin

In 2008, a paper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was sent to a cryptography mailing list only two months after the domain name bitcoin.org appeared online. The paper is linked to the name Satoshi Nakamoto. However, only in 2009 Bitcoin was launched with 30,000 lines of code and people started mining it through a lottery-based system. 21 million coins will be released over the next 20 years from that moment.

In 2020, the number of Bitcoin wallets that hold at least 0.1 is over 3 million. The last decade, the cryptocurrency has gained around 8.9 million percentages, maintaining its position as the most popular and sought-after digital currency.

Here’s a table of the most popular cryptocurrencies’ market cap:

Its mysterious origins

When Satoshi Nakamoto announced the release of the Bitcoin mining software, Hal Finney, a console game developer and crypto enthusiast, offered to mine the first coins. He was sent 10 original bitcoins from block 70 as a test. However, both of these men denied being the creators of Bitcoin and Nakamoto completely vanished from the web. Over the course time, many names have surfaced and were attributed the creation of the biggest cryptocurrency, including Elon Musk, but no one knows for sure who is the man behind it.

Buying real-world goods using cryptocurrency

In 2010, merchants of all types started accepting Bitcoin with the first tangible item ever purchased with the cryptocurrency being pizza. Today, as one Bitcoin is worth more than C$10,000, the amount paid for those pizzas is valued at C$100 million.

The Silk Road, an anonymous black market filled with illegal items, was launched in 2011 and its primary currency is the untraceable Bitcoin.

The online war against Bitcoin

In 2018, Facebook banned advertising that promoted cryptocurrency products and services, claiming this measure protects its users from scams or deception. It targeted mostly ICOs (Initial Coin Offering). These encourage people to buy cryptocurrency before they are launched, promising profit for buyers. Many have simply disappeared, leaving their users with no way to get their money back.

Right after Facebook, the next online giant to ban crypto ads is Google. Their reason is that many of the such financial products being advertised have a speculative and unregulated nature, posing great threats for their users.

Owned by Google, Youtube has made a similar move in 2020, removing a huge number of videos on cryptocurrency topics. Even though these were deleted for violation reasons, they were unsuspended afterwards. Many crypto channels were getting “strikes” for their videos and once three of those have been received, the channel is removed. This is not the first time this happened. In 2019, YouTube removed cryptocurrency related channels, but later claimed it was an error.

Bitcoin Casinos and how they work

Bitcoin has been embraced by both online casinos and gamblers all over the world. Many online casinos appeared that accept Bitcoin along fiat currency such as Canadian Dollar. Also, some gambling websites work exclusively with cryptocurrencies.

This digital currency is now used as both a deposit and a withdrawal method by many gaming platforms. These can offer traditional casino games, sports-based betting, lotteries, and more.

Most of these platforms run games developed by their own team, while some use purchased or rented versions of popular games. They customize these by adding certain extra features that make them unique.

Tips: Make sure Bitcoin is also available for cashouts, as many casinos only offer it as a deposit method!

No KYC Casinos – The costs of full anonymity

Since Canadian Bitcoin casinos are popular thanks to the high level of anonymity the cryptocurrency transactions offer to players, the KYC is still required in most.

KYC (Know Your Customer) is a procedure necessary for most online casinos as well as other websites. This asks every customer to identify themselves, offer personal information such as phone number, address, and email. The procedure is simplified for registering at a Bitcoin casino, but for withdrawals, the team may ask for additional verifications. For these, customers must send copies of personal documents such as ID, bank statements, utility bills, etcetera.

Cryptocurrency gambling is all about remaining anonymous, so Bitcoin gambling in Canada became available on casinos that require no KYC. Even more, a small fraction of gaming sites don’t even require registration.

With the KYC process lacking and no legislation regarding cryptocurrencies, the player may be exposed to a variety of risks. These procedures are required for age verification, prevention of money laundering, protection of player’s funds in case the account is hacked, and others. Without them, users of such gaming platforms can be underage, they can have their account hacked, and in some cases the very platform vanished along with their players’ money.

How to minimize risks when choosing a No KYC casino

Given all the information above, one can conclude that often times, these platforms are not legit. However, some do function properly and quite fairly. A way to tell if such a website is a scam or not is to look for licensed software providers.

If the players find games from famous developers such as Microgaming, NetEnt, and others, there are good chances that the gaming site will offer a fair experience. For Microgaming fans, we have compiled a list of new offers from various Canadian casinos that accept both fiat and digital currencies.

Be Aware: Both the player account and funds in it are exposed to hacking and other issues when no KYC is performed!

Bitcoin casino payments – processing time, fees, and exchange rate

Cryptocurrency transactions are well known for the fact that they are almost instantaneous. However, every payment made from a casino to any of its users has to be processed by the gaming site’s team. Even more, when gambling with digital currency, most platforms prefer to perform transactions manually for security reasons. This means that the casino’s standard payout time applies. This can be from a couple of minutes, to hours, and even up to five business days. Also, unlimited daily transactions are also usually allowed on these gaming platforms.

Most top Bitcoin casinos come with zero transaction fees, unlike traditional currencies and payment options which come with either a fixed fee or a percentage of the sum that is being handled. This is definitely a selling point for these platforms. Nonetheless, some sites do apply both fees and cashout limits, and players usually gravitate away from them.

The Bitcoin exchange rate is very important when making payments. Due to its volatility, one Bitcoin may be worth more or less from one minute to another. In case a player deposits using this cryptocurrency, it will have a certain value at the time of deposit, and possibly a different value at the time they cash out any winnings.

Be Aware: Players are exposed to a high volatility risk when exchanging Bitcoin to Canadian Dollars!

The advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin gambling

Bitcoin gambling, as good as it may sound to some, does come with both good and bad aspects. Here’s what players should keep in mind before opting for gaming with this cryptocurrency:

Is gambling with Bitcoin legal in Canada?

Digital currencies are neither controlled or backed by any bank or federal government. This means that they cannot be deemed legal or illegal. Any resident of Canada may purchase Bitcoins and use them on any online casino that accepts them.

Online gambling in Canada is itself in a gray area, since the government does not issue licenses for Canadian online casinos. However, players may access, from within the country’s territory, casinos that operate outside the borders, since this activity is not yet regulated.

How to choose the right Bitcoin casino

Considering all the risks related to starting fresh at a new Bitcoin casino, players need to look for a couple of things when selecting their new adventure:

1. License – licensed gaming websites offer the highest level of security for both players and the casinos themselves. Malta Gaming Authority and United Kingdom Gambling Commission are very strict authorities that only license platforms after thorough verifications. Picking one with a license from any of these regulatory bodies will add to the level of safety one can enjoy while gambling;
2. Well-known software providers – the industry giants among software developers work with trustworthy platforms. Their presence on a gaming website further shows that it can be trusted;
3. Payout processing time – payout processing is important because some websites have their players waiting for up to 5 days, so choosing one that performs these in a couple of hours adds to a better experience for the player;
4. Offers available – some Canadian online casinos that accept Bitcoin will even create exclusive offers for users who prefer this cryptocurrency. Aiming for those would give newcomers a chance to test the website using extra benefits right from the start.

Here is how many such platforms we have in our collection and a Bitcoin casino list of the top 5 brands chosen based on our players’ ratings:

Even if these are the most liked by our users, all the Bitcoin gaming websites we placed on our lists have been checked by us, in order to ensure a positive experience for each user who decides to sign up.

What types of games and offers can one enjoy on a Bitcoin Casino Canada

Having a wide variety of games to play on an online casino is a very important aspect for all players. Whether they look for a certain software provider, a certain type of game, or simply to have many options to choose from, the collection of products they can enjoy is a decision factor. Offers are no less important, as being able to start off with extra funds can completely change the player’s experience for the better.

We’ve analyzed our player’s preferences when it comes to the games and offers they choose from our website. Here’s what we discovered:

Based on our research, we may conclude that our Canadian players usually select Welcome Package deals, as they offer more benefits for multiple deposits. With that, they often go for the best bitcoin slots and enjoy their features and wide variety of themes.

Aside from the classic games that one may find in most online casinos in the industry, when playing on an online casino with bitcoin, some special games might be available. These are Bitcoin Dice and Bitcoin Crash.

Bitcoin Crash is a game with simple rules, but mastered by few. Its rules are the following:

• Players place their bets before the round starts;
• When the round starts, a graph with a multiplier starts increasing;
• At any given moment in the game, the multiplier may crash;
• Those who hit Cash Out before the graph crashes, will have their bet multiplied.

When it comes to Bitcoin Dice, the player simply needs to choose any number between 1 and 100. Then, they may place a bet on whether the dice roll above or below the number they have selected.

Tips: Whenever possible, choose Bitcoin casino bonus to improve your gaming session from the start!

Conclusions on Bitcoin casinos

Based on our research and analysis we can clearly state that even gambling at the best Bitcoin casino comes with certain risks. After taking into account all the pros and the cons of such platforms, we may conclude that in most cases, the benefits do not match the disadvantages. Even if Bitcoin transactions are free, most platforms still apply fees for processing payments and they may take as long as traditional payment options due to manual approval.

The volatility aspect is also very important, as it may put the player in the place of losing money during the exchange even if they won a casino jackpot. Now Canadian gamers may choose if they wish to begin their crypto gambling journey aware of everything it comes with or just stick to the traditional ways.

Methodology and References

All the information in this article comes from research, analysis, and tests conducted by our experts on various online casinos in Canada. We have also used our website data to analyze the types of games and offers our users choose from the lists we present to them.

Below, users may find all the external resources used:

• The history of Bitcoin and controversy about its creators
• Over 3 million people own at least 0.1 BTC
• Facebook bans cryptocurrency adds
• Google ban on cryptocurrency adds
• Youtube follows Google in banning cryptocurrency videos and channels
• The market cap of Bitcoin and other digital currencies
• How Bitcoin casinos work
• Bitcoin Crash game – rules and how to play

Top-rated Bitcoin Bonuses