Bitcoin Casinos in the UK: Top Casino Sites for Bitcoin Payments
In recent years, Bitcoin casinos have become mainstream. Due to current UK Gambling Commission regulations, no crypto transactions are directly available for payments at licenced casinos, but indirect routes are available via Neteller and PayPal. The aim of this page is to help readers discover where those options are available.
Top Casinos with Bitcoin
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Due to the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies, and therefore complications when it comes to regulation, Bitcoin and other digital tokens are not accepted as payment or withdrawal methods at casinos with UK Gambling Commission licences. Instead, consumers can use e-wallets like Neteller and PayPal with Bitcoin funds, then make deposits using GBP as an accepted fiat currency.
Before You Deposit on Bitcoin Gambling Sites
Before you jump headfirst into a Bitcoin casino online and start committing your precious coins or pound sterling, there are several things you need to know. This is unlike any other currency in the world and therefore requires a somewhat unique analysis.
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a completely digital, completely decentralised currency. It is not tied to any country. It is not owned by any corporation. The system is peer-to-peer, and transactions take place directly between users, without a middle-man. Right now, coins can be bought, sold and exchanged via online vendors. It can also be mined – a reward for verifying transactions and keeping the blockchain consistent. In some ways, it works just like pounds or dollars or euros, fluctuating in value. You can use it to buy things online or even in some shops, but there is no physical paper currency. In other ways, it is completely different, but we’ll come onto that later.
How to Get Bitcoins
Getting started may be tricky at first, but there are many tutorials to help you through the process online if you’re keen to get onboard with this exciting new currency. There are essentially two ways to acquire Bitcoin – mining and purchasing. Choosing to buy coins is the much quicker and easier route, naturally. Mining Bitcoin can be lucrative, but involves a significant amount of computer power, electricity and specialised software. If you’ve never delved into the world of Bitcoin before, we recommend that you start off by buying a relatively small amount of the currency to test the water out first. Here’s how:
Bitcoin ATMs are even starting to crop up. Users can open their smartphones, scan a QR code and either buy or sell the currency using cold hard currency. If you already have a digital wallet set up on your device, it’s a fast way to purchase more coins or cash your current stash.
How to Make Bitcoin Payments
Before you can make a Bitcoin casino deposit you first need to acquire some coins. Buying them is relatively simple, and can be done, for the first time, in around 30 minutes. The coins are held in virtual wallets, the most common being in the form of smartphone apps. Once you have somewhere to store your money, you can purchase the currency with GBP. Once you have your hands on the digital currency, you make a quick and easy deposit to an online casino and begin to use Bitcoin to play your favourite casino slots, tables and card games just like you would any other currency.
Are There Any Fees?
No fees are currently applied to Bitcoin deposits at online gambling sites. This is very unlikely to change. This currency is completely decentralised, meaning that nobody owns or regulates the currency. As a result, it can be traded free of third parties or governments skimming a little off the top. Unlike PayPal or major credit card providers, for example, who can charge for the use of their services, Bitcoin is completely free for deposits to online casinos.
User Considerations
Bitcoin is special and must be viewed independently of major world currencies such as pounds, dollars, euros and yen. Its uniqueness is not only its strength, but also its flaw. One of the main things people love about the currency is its anonymity. It is also convenient – you can send and receive money anywhere, anytime from your phone. Blockchain technology makes the currency completely secure, and experts say it is unhackable. However, the major draw for fans of this currency is the potential for huge returns. Between 2015 and 2017, the currency rose in value by more than 1,000%. Early adopters of the currency have become overnight millionaires. Gambling with this currency is like gambling on two fronts at the same time, with potential profits pertaining to the games and the currency being staked itself.
- Totally anonymous
- Ultra modern
- Could inflate in value
- Is itself a gamble
- Have to convert to withdraw
- Some expertise required
- Does not qualify for bonuses (yet)
Processing times for Bitcoin casino deposits are fast, but not instant such as with e-wallets and the leader in that niche PayPal. The process usually takes around 30 minutes, depending on the peer-to-peer verification process. It’s not the end of the world, but it can be frustrating if you just want to stock your casino account and play immediately.
There are also a couple of drawbacks to choosing this as your primary payment method that need to be addressed. The currency is still niche in the sense that it cannot be universally used everywhere. It also requires a level of expertise that is not necessary for using a traditional currency. There is also the issue of scepticism amongst financial experts who continue to warn of a Bitcoin bubble. Due to the rapid inflation in value, some fear that the cryptocurrency is going to crash. Fans insist this is scaremongering due to government fears of an untaxable currency becoming the status quo, but the truth is that nobody really knows what the next five to ten years of Bitcoin will look like.
Bitcoin Casino Bonus Offers
Bitcoin casino bonuses are rare, to say the least. Whilst casinos that accept Bitcoin do offer welcome bonuses and first deposit rewards and spins, all currently exclude Bitcoin deposits from qualifying for their promotions. You can still take advantage of a bonus if you sign up for an account with one of these operators, but you will have to make a qualifying deposit with another payment method to claim the freebies.
Click on the banner below to discover the best casino bonus offers for players.
The same goes for Bitcoin casino spins. Currently, they do not exist but watch this space. The online casino market is evolving so quickly that all could change soon. Whilst we can’t recommend any Bitcoin casino bonuses right now, it’s worth bookmarking this page for future updates. As soon as we see something happening in this space, we’ll let you know.
Security Considerations for Players
We’ve come a long way since the launch of online casinos in terms of player security, the protection of personal information and the overall fairness of playing gambling games online. Of course, there are still dodgy Bitcoin gambling sites and unlicensed operators that you need to avoid, but the increasing regulation surrounding this industry has made it a much safer place to play. Here’s a roundup of the main security benefits of using this popular cryptocurrency as an online casino payment method.
No account information will be visible when using Bitcoin to make a deposit. The cryptocurrency is completely anonymous and untraceable – which is why it is so popular on the dark web for the buying and selling of (sometimes) illicit items. The advantage for casino players is that you don’t have to share your bank account information with an operator to deposit and play games with Bitcoin as your currency.
Bitcoin technology makes it very secure. The whole thing works on what is called the blockchain – a kind of distributed database. The coins themselves are encrypted and can be stored either in digital wallets or offline on computer hard drives. The digital infrastructure of Bitcoin, rather than being its vulnerability, is its strength, security wise. It is also impossible to lose these coins down the back of the sofa or accidentally put it through the washing machine.
However, risks do still exist with Bitcoin. Bitcoins that are owned are locked by a private key – an encrypted code that is unique. Loss of the private key results in coins being unusable, and therefore effectively worth zero, or lost. There was a case in 2013 where a user claimed to have discarded an old hard drive with the only copy of his private key on it, losing $7.5 million worth of Bitcoin in the process.
Bitcoin Casino Payment Limits
As with any online casino payment method, limits are placed on how much customers can deposit with Bitcoin at a time. Fortunately, the minimum and maximum deposits are tied to a stable currency such as the American dollar or pounds. This ensures that the limits do not fluctuate too far and wide over a short period of time. To use an example to highlight why this is important; one Bitcoin in 2015 was worth around $200 – not an unreasonable amount to deposit at an online casino. Two years later, that same, single coin was worth almost $5,000 – quite a large amount to deposit to an online casino in a single transaction!
- Play with Bitcoin
- Minimum Deposit ￡10
- Maximum Deposit ￡30
As Bitcoin limits are calculated against stable currencies, there is little disadvantage to using the cryptocurrency if you are planning on making a small deposit. At the higher end of the scale, however, the maximum limits for Bitcoin deposits tend to be around the equivalent of $500. Unlike the PayPal casino sites or any other e-wallet gambling destination, where the limits are way higher.
Mobile Bitcoin Use
Since we’re dealing with a deregulated, open-source cryptocurrency with no real ownership and no official app. However, there are several high-quality mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices that can handle all your Bitcoin needs. The entire system of Bitcoin relies on these digital wallets, so they are baked right into the ecosystem.
This is not like your online banking app that was tagged onto the service when we all started wanting access to our money on the go, mobile is a fundamental part of Bitcoin. As a result, you have no need to worry about mobile performance, compatibility or any of that nonsense that comes with more traditional payment methods. Not many of the best mobile casino sites are currently accepting Bitcoin as a payment method in the first place. However, I’m happy to report that the NetBet mobile casino is one of the few to accept Bitcoin deposits via mobile.
Company Information
| Founder: | Unconfirmed |
| Controlling Authority: | None |
| Units Available: | 21,000,000 |
| Set Value: | Fluctuating |
| Circulation Estimate: | 16.7 million (as of Dec. 2017) |
| Biggest Gambling Win: | 11,000 Bitcoins (2013) |
| Mining Rate: | Every 8.5 min |
| Illegal in: | Nepal, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, Bangladesh |
The origins of Bitcoin are murky. Rumour has it that the digital currency was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese blockchain developer. However, stories have since surfaced that Nakamoto is merely a front and does not exist outside of the digital world. Nick Szabo, a blogger, Dorian Nakamoto, a Japanese American living in California, and Craig Steven Wright, an Australian academic and famous hoaxer, have all been liked with the Satoshi identity. The truth is, nobody really knows for sure, who the inventor is.
Bitcoin was released for open source in 2009. This means that nobody is in charge of the currency per se, rather its operation is a collective effort. Hal Finney was one of the earliest adopters after downloading the software the day it was released. He received 10 coins from Satoshi Nakamote in what was the first-ever (known) transaction.
It is rumoured that Nakamoto mined more than one million Bitcoins during the early years, before disappearing. We do know that a Bitcoin user Laszlo Hanyecz once used 10,000 coins to purchase two Papa John’s pizzas. At a current market value of roughly ￡135 million, that was one expensive Margherita. In August, Bitcoin was split into two derivative digital currencies, the classic Bitcoin (BTC) and the new Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The cash version is known as the hard fork of the currency. Given that BCH is so new, we recommend that you opt for BTC.
Legality of Bitcoin
Because this currency is decentralised and is not tied to any country or nation, it cannot be restricted or banned. However, it can be criminalized. Even when this is not true, in countries where it is unregulated, this comes with its own pros and cons. The currency is attracting a lot of media attention now due to its rapid rise in popularity and value. Opponents have criticized its use on the black market to facilitate the movement of drugs and illegal weapons, among other things, but it is difficult to see what governments can practically do to stop Bitcoin from growing.
Bitcoin Casino Summary
If you are looking for a new, innovative currency to fund your trips to the UK’s best online casinos, then Bitcoin is really the only option you have right now. There are other cryptocurrencies such as Ether and Litecoin, but they are way behind Bitcoin in terms of breaking into the mainstream. Below you can see the development in terms of growth over the last couple of years. As you can see, the value has been on the up and up, reaching thousands of pounds worth of value. The market-driven nature of this currency lends it a high degree of volatility, meaning the trend can continue or reverse.
The future of this currency is unknown, sure, and purchasing coins is a gamble, but isn’t that what we’re here for anyway? Depositing at a Bitcoin casino could turn out to be a savvy investment, and should be something all modern online players should consider carefully. If in doubt about this type of payment method, do see all our other traditional currency online casino sites.