Cryptocurrency, especially bitcoins, became trendy a few years ago. The variety of digital currencies grows every day. If it was difficult to imagine where people can spend their tokens ten years ago, today, there are a lot of options on how to invest them or what to buy for them. Online gambling flourished last year too. Online casino bitcoin is fresh but very popular. There is only one unanswered question – is crypto gambling legal? But, first of all, it is necessary to generally describe blockchain tech and bitcoins.
What Is Bitcoin and How Does Blockchain Technology Work?
For the first time, blockchain tech was described in the 80-es of the 20th century, but only in 2008, it was realized and popularized by someone known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Blockchain is a digital technology to hold records about transactions (blocks) on different public databases (chains) connected by the peer-to-peer network. To say simple, it is a decentralized structure to protect transfers among users. Blockchains are in use not only for cryptocurrency operations today because they allow protecting every action from any tampering. It means that information in the digital ledger is under high safeguard. Also, this technology provides data transfers very quickly without a third approval party.
Bitcoin is the first and most popular cryptocurrency in the world. It is decentralized and may be submitted only as a digital currency that can be transferred or exchanged by blockchain technology. BTC is created by mining. Totally, 21 million coins can be mined. However, the pace of mined bitcoins decreases every 4 years. It means that the last coin will be mined near the 2140 year.
There are a lot of talks about the future of bitcoins and their impact on the global economy. Hence, the most interesting question is about the legal status of crypto and its use.
The Legality of Cryptocurrency over the Globe
Law always hampers with the regulation of new object reality. It is never clear which events will be longstanding and which not. In the first few years, authorities looked closely at cryptocurrency. Even now, there are many experts who say that the wave of coins will decrease soon, and they will lose most users. However, developed countries and many of their satellites (the USA, EU members, the UK, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and so on) have started regulating bitcoins’ flow the same as finance’s flow. Somewhere, the situation is contentious. For example, in Canada, bitcoins are not prohibited now, and dealers in crypto are regulated as money service businesses. At the same time, companies dealing with virtual currencies must register with the FTRAC (special regulator) and meet all requirements (one of them is to report suspicious transactions). This infringes one of the basic principles of cryptocurrency – the absence of a third party. Also, there are still countries where BTC and other tokens are prohibited, and their use is under restriction. In total, there are more than 70 countries and territories in the world where bitcoin is legal and near 15 countries with the contentious situation.
Online Casinos Accept Crypto: How Does It Work?
In September 2020, it was counted that casinos on the Internet using cryptocurrency gain an additional profit of over USD 150 million! This sum will grow in the next years. So, how does it work?
Online casino bitcoin is a gambling platform that deals mainly with bitcoin cryptocurrency. Such casinos operate with special software to minimize human intervention. It means that software has the role of a dealer in games where real players are needed. In other cases, it is an algorithm of accidental winnings like in other casinos. The main difference between an online gaming house working only with fiat money and a casino receiving crypto is that the latter provides operation based on the peer-to-peer network (blockchain principle).
Advantages of Gambling with BTC
Digital casinos dealing with BTC have many advantages over classic online casinos because of using blockchain tech.
- Anonymity. The nature of cryptocurrency implies only secure activities between two users. All information about who sends and to who is ciphered by the algorithm. For many players, it is very important to stay anonymous.
- Speed of transfers. The absence of the third party in transactions allows making transactions very quick. It may be important in conditions of cryptocurrency fluctuations. Also, the high speed of deposit acceptance allows starting playing faster as well as receiving withdrawals quickly.
- Decentralized structure. In classic casinos, all money is in the hand of the casino’s owner. Bitcoin gambling platforms do not have a single center of money transfer. It helps to protect users and their stakes.
- No additional fees. Most of the online casinos dealing with crypto do not demand transaction fees or other supplementary payments.
- Accessibility. The digital nature of this business allows playing games for many people at one time and guarantees the approachability of games over the world.
Are Online Bitcoin Casinos Legal?
Not all countries where cryptocurrency is legal demonstrate similar loyalty to online gambling with bitcoins. There are three kinds of countries:
1. Where any online gambling is prohibited.
2. Where cryptocurrencies are prohibited.
3. Where crypto gambling is permitted.
In Estonia, Germany, Finland, and Denmark, Internet gambling with crypto is allowed with a special license given by the local regulator to both local providers and foreign ones. Hong-Kong, Gibraltar, and the United Kingdom (including the Isle of Man) have the same position.
In Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden, local gambling platforms need to receive a license, and foreign ones can act without it.
In the USA, casinos accepting bitcoins are totally illegal. Many known gambling providers are incorporated outside this country. The same situation is in Malta, even though Malta Gaming Authority gives licenses to most online casinos.
Playing casinos in the countries where it is prohibited is the liability of a player. All amenable gambling platforms always note the list of restricted countries in their Terms and Conditions.
To sum up, it is necessary to say that the situation with bitcoins and online bitcoin casinos’ legitimacy is changeable. Players may play from any place, but possible consequences are their responsibility.
Source: https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2021/03/18/88846/are-bitcoin-casinos-legal/
