Bitcoins have had a pretty good year in 2020. It’s been a bad year for many other investments and pretty much everything else, but for the most part, Bitcoins have managed to rise above the pandemonium and maintain order during chaos.
There have been some ups and downs, moving from lows of over $5,000 to highs in excess of $17,000, but on the whole, Bitcoin has been strong and stable and this popularity has triggered huge growth in the Bitcoin online casino industry.
The Bitcoin Casino Industry
Gamblers have been flocking to Bitcoin casino sites for a few years now and they’ve seen a particularly sizable surge in 2020. Not only are Bitcoins getting stronger, but the lockdown has forced many investors behind closed doors. They’ve had more free time on their hands and, as a result, have been investing more of that time in playing online casino games.
As these sites get more players, their profits increase, and this allows them to invest more in their sites, technology, and their customers. As a result, we’re seeing some huge improvements with regard to how these casino sites handle bitcoin payments.
Payment Speed on Online Casinos
Traditionally, casinos haven’t been very quick when processing online casino withdrawals and these delays are the result of two things.
The first is ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC), a requirement that all casinos are forced to abide by and one that is particularly strict with casinos regulators in the UK, Sweden, and Malta.
Simply put, a casino needs to know who their customer is before they can initiate a withdrawal. They are required to confirm their identity and their address, and this means that the player needs to send a passport/driver’s license, utility bill, and even a picture of their credit card.
These rules are there to prevent underage gambling, money laundering, and fraud.
Secondly, withdrawals are held for several days so that players can cancel and reverse them. They claim to do this for the player’s benefit, but that’s nonsense. These restrictions are in place because casinos know that the longer a withdrawal is pending, the more likely a player is to cancel that withdrawal, gamble the money, and lose every penny.
Take a look at the negative reviews of any online casinos and you’ll see a plethora of people complaining that the verification processes took too long and that their withdrawals were in pending for weeks. Many of these players finish their reviews by saying that they got so frustrated they cancelled their withdrawals, gambled their money, and lost every penny, putting them right where the casino wants them.
Bitcoin casinos rarely suffer from these issues as they prioritize aspects that fiat currency casinos ignore.
Firstly, they are regulated by the authorities of Curacao, which are considerably less strict when it comes to KYC. Most casinos won’t request information unless you make many large withdrawals, which means you don’t have to jump through a bunch of hoops just to get the equivalent of $10.
As for the pending withdrawal issue, Bitcoin casinos acknowledge how frustrated players are with this requirement and that, without KYC applications, there are no excuses for such a requirement to be in place.
How Long Does It Take?
All Bitcoin deposits are processed instantly, with your credits either remaining as BTCs or being converted into fiat currencies like EUR, CAD, and USD. You’ll need to adhere to the minimum deposit limits, which are typically fixed at between 0.0003 BTC and 0.003 BTC, and you’ll also have bonuses to look out for.
Once you have collected your winnings, you may be subject to a maximum withdrawal limit. Some sites have eradicated this limit completely, others have set it at a high sum like 10 BTC a month, but for many, it’s fixed at around 2 BTC per month.
When the withdrawal has been initiated, the payment should take just a few hours to reach your Bitcoin wallet. The actual time frame will depend on your chosen online casino, but it’s rarely more than 24 hours.
Are Bitcoin Casinos Available Everywhere?
Regulators in many European countries, including the United Kingdom and Sweden, have yet to fully embrace online Bitcoin casinos. It’s not that they are concerned about the perceived safety of this currency, but rather that they are worried about the implementation of Know Your Customer protocols.
In other words, if casinos can’t follow their super-strict rules to the letter, they are not interested, and the same applies for many other major regulators. Authorities in Curacao are much more relaxed with these rules and that’s why the majority of Bitcoin casinos are licensed here.
Online casinos mainly focus their attention on markets like Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Scandinavia, but as time goes on and these methods become more acceptable, it’s likely that we’ll see these casinos embraced by more regulators and available in more countries.
