One of the most important aspects of online gambling is the payment system that’s at play. If the player cannot make transactions to and from their casino account, then the entire online gambling experience falls apart. Luckily, there are now several options that the players can choose from in terms of payments, including playing gambling games in a bitcoin casino.
That being said, there are many other options that you can choose from when it comes to making online payments, including:
- Credit cards,
- Debit cards,
- Electronic wallets,
- Bank wire transfer,
- Other cryptocurrencies,
- Checks,
and others. In this review, we would like to talk some more about the main distinctions (as well as the similarities) between credit card payments and Bitcoin payments in online casinos. Which of the two is more reliable and secure? By reading the rest of our review, you will learn a lot more on the subject.
Bitcoin Payments
Even though the days when the cryptocurrency craze was up and about all over the world are long gone now, there is still a case to be made about the ever-rising popularity of Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrencies. The number of online casinos with Bitcoin deposits, while nowhere near the number of casinos that accept credit card deposits, is growing fast. And the prognosis is that it will continue to grow for a long time to time and, perhaps, get even with the number of credit card-funding casinos.
As far as how Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrencies work – they tend to function and work similarly to cash. It’s exchanged from one person to another, and there’s no need for intermediaries to facilitate the process. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto (it’s still unknown whether this is the actual name of a person, a person’s pseudonym, or an organization that stands behind Bitcoin), Bitcoin is one of the latest advancements in the financial systems.
Thus, there are advantages to having Bitcoin go through a peer-to-peer system for every transaction. Satoshi Nakamoto’s seminal paper on the subject was named “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” The main benefit that Bitcoin users in online crypto casinos experience is that there are no fees attached to either giving payments or receiving payments. That’s right, regardless if you are making a casino deposit or a withdrawal, you won’t have to pay any additional fees to any financial intermediary, such as you may have to if you were to use traditional payment methods such as credit cards.
That being said, there are still some fees that you may have to pay if you want to convert Bitcoin to FIAT money. But other than that, you won’t need to worry about paying any side fees when making a deposit or a withdrawal with Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin payments are performed to an all-encompassing computer network. The transactions themselves are then recorded on the so-called blockchain, and this blockchain is public. Don’t mistake the fact that the blockchain is public with the notion that you won’t be able to maintain any degree of anonymity when doing Bitcoin transactions. On the contrary, the blockchain is made completely secured by cryptography and advanced security protocols, so your privacy is maintained at all times.
Moreover, if you are to make a Bitcoin transaction, you won’t even need to provide personal information like where you live or your name. This adds to the fuel that spreads the fire of popularity of Bitcoin, so to speak, as people are getting more and more concerned with issues of their privacy being invaded on a daily basis.
Another thing that we’d like to mention here, specific to online gambling, is that online crypto casinos are very generous with giving out big bonuses to players. And these bonuses are, typically, a lot bigger than the bonuses that the players could get at regular casinos. For example, there are deposit match bonuses that may give you several thousand dollars at a time. There are known cases when online crypto casinos have been known to give new players more than $10K as a welcome deposit match bonus. So, the incredible generosity of online casinos when it comes to cryptocurrency deposits cannot be overstated by any means.
Also, another thing to note here is that cryptocurrency transactions, such as Bitcoin transactions, are usually instant. This goes regardless if you’re making a deposit or a withdrawal. The system is made so as not to waste any time, and there are no intermediaries that would supervise every individual transaction either, making things significantly simpler – and faster.
However, it’s important to note that Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrencies are still not mainstream payment options. As such, they are ousted by many of the world’s authorities. For example, only recently has Bitcoin been proclaimed a legal payment option in the small country of El Salvador, and this move was not without firm opposition. So, it may take some time before Bitcoin reaches mainstream use among people and institutions worldwide. That being said, the number of online casinos that accept cryptocurrency payments is still relatively low.
But this is not to say that you will have a hard time finding an online cryptocurrency casino where you can make and take Bitcoin payments. On the contrary, the number of online crypto casinos is steadily growing at an ever-increasing pace.
To make Bitcoin transactions, you would have to use an electronic wallet. These electronic wallets can be stored on a smartphone, computer, or even in the cloud. You can also buy a piece of hardware to store your Bitcoins, which makes it quite similar to a physical wallet. That being said, once you send a payment, there’s no way in which you can protect yourself from being defrauded. Once the transaction is concluded, the only way you can get a refund is if the receiver decides to give you a refund. Again, there are no intermediary institutions that offer fraud protection, and that can demand that the retailer pay damages for initiating a fraudulent transaction. So, you will have to be a lot more careful when making Bitcoin payments at that.
Another potential disadvantage to using Bitcoin (or it can be a major advantage, depending on your luck) is that it’s incredibly volatile. There are people that have become millionaires with a few small Bitcoin investments. However, this cryptocurrency is highly volatile in terms of its value, as it rises and it crashes every so often. So, if you happen to have money in the form of Bitcoins, you should always be prepared for the worst – that there will be a crash soon enough and that the value of your Bitcoins may plummet. If you don’t want to take this risk, it may be smarter for you to steer clear of Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrencies.
Also, if, say, a virus corrupts your e-wallet where you safeguard your Bitcoins, then you may effectively end up without your money. Even if you own millions of dollars in Bitcoins, you may end up losing all your wealth in a matter of seconds if a hacker hacks your wallet. So, you should always be careful lest something like this should happen to you.
Overall, it’s safe to say that, while still not mainstream, Bitcoin is one of the safest, most reliable ways in which you can make casino payments in online casinos where cryptocurrency payment methods are accepted.
Credit Card Payments
On the other hand, credit cards are much more widely accepted payment methods all around the globe compared to their Bitcoin counterpart. The way credit card payments work is that the buyer enables the seller to “get access to their account,” so to speak, and take the agreed-upon sum of money. Of course, this is not as simple as it sounds, by any means. There are intermediaries on every step of the way.
As an example, we could take a Visa monetary transaction. There are 4 different parties in every transaction:
- The merchant,
- The acquirer,
- The issuer, and
- The cardholder.
As you can see, there are several instances that every transaction needs to go through when making even the smallest of Visa transactions. And this is the reason for one of the main drawbacks when it comes to credit card payments – there may be some fees that you will have to pay when making a deposit or a withdrawal using a credit card at an online casino. The fees may range from 0.5% up to 5% per transaction, which can amount to by no means a negligible sum of money, especially if you’re used to making frequent transactions.
However, the flipside to this is that there are ways in which you can protect yourself from fraud. The fact that there are intermediaries in every transaction means that you can request that you get your money back if you suspect that you’ve been defrauded in any way. But then, the institutions will intervene on your behalf and potentially get you your money back, which is not something that you can look forward to if you’re making Bitcoin payments.
Credit cards are real, physical cards that you can store in your wallet. One of the biggest benefits of using credit cards is that they are widely accepted and used all over the world. Some of the biggest credit card brands in the world are:
- Visa,
- MasterCard,
- Maestro,
- American Express,
and many others. Chances are that you’re already aware of the top brands in the credit card business and that you’ve already used some of them up until this point. And online casino operators are privy to this, so the majority of them will gladly accept the use of credit cards on behalf of their customers. In addition, you will find out that many of the crypto casinos actually offer credit card payment systems to the players.
And even though crypto casinos are known to be exceptionally generous with deposit bonuses, this is not to say, by any means, that the regular casinos are not generous toward the customers that make credit card deposits. On the contrary, there are many online casinos where you can get thousands of dollars as a reward for your first or first few deposits that you will make with one of the available credit cards. So, there’s always the casino bonuses to look forward to.
Also, you can use credit cards to get into what’s known as negative credit. Then, depending on your credit rating, you can borrow money from the bank, so to speak, and fund your online gambling habit. Note that we’re not saying that this is a good idea, ever. It’s just a possibility that you should have in your mind, as it’s one that’s not available if you are to use Bitcoin.
However, the iGaming regulatory authorities have begun to catch up with how dangerous it can be for gamblers to use credit cards to make deposits in online casinos. After all, there’s the gambling phenomenon of the players throwing good money after bad money to catch up. And being able to draw money from your credit card – money that you don’t own – can be devastating and potentially ruin your life if you aren’t careful. As a result, some top iGaming regulators, such as the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, have forbidden online casinos from accepting credit card payments.
Regardless, credit cards remain one of the most widely used payment methods in the history of modern finances. There’s seldom an online store or a casino that won’t accept credit cards for making payments. So, if you want to take the tried and tested way and don’t wish to risk things, you can opt to use credit cards to make payments. They are very safe to use as long as you follow common-sense guidelines, and there are additional layers of protection if you should ever get scammed or defrauded by a seller. So, you can always feel safe when using credit cards, especially if you’re issued by some of the biggest brands in the finance industry.
However, you do need to bear in mind that there are fees associated with using credit cards that may add up in time. Also, there’s the problem of drawing and using more money than you have, as it’s highly tempting to get some money and get your credit in the red zone. Not only can it be difficult for you to get back from credit card debt, but it’s also important to note that there can be very high interest rates that will further serve to increase the debt that you have racked up for going in the red with your credit card use, regardless if it’s for basic utilities or to fund your online gambling casino account.
So again, be highly vigilant when going in the negative and never do it if your goal is to fund your casino account, as doing this regularly can put you deep into a huge hole of depth, one that may be very difficult to get out from.
Comparing Bitcoins and Credit Cards
So, the main question here is should you use credit cards or Bitcoins to fund your casino account? Well, since the main issue here is reliability, we ought to discuss it first. Both Bitcoins and credit cards are highly reliable payment methods. So, chances are that you will never have any problems whatsoever when using them in online casinos.
But you need to be extra careful with your Bitcoin e-wallet (or physical wallet). If you forget your credentials, you may lose all your access to your Bitcoins which means that you’ve lost your money. On the other hand, if you forget any credit card credentials or if your credit card gets lost or stolen, then the issuing authority will give you a new credit card, usually for a small fee, and the lost or stolen one will be canceled. So, in this regard, it may be a bit safer and more reliable to use credit cards than Bitcoins, though it’s still safe to say that it’s very rarely the case that Bitcoin owners get hacked or forget their credentials for their e-wallets.
If you want to go for full anonymity, though, we suggest that you use Bitcoins. We say this because you won’t need to share any personal information to use Bitcoin to make payments to and from an online casino – or on any other place. This is unlike credit card usage, as you will need to provide your ID and perhaps utility bill to the card issuer, and you will need to share your name every time you want to make a deposit using your credit card at an online casino.
The fees are another subject that ought to concern you, especially if you’re using credit cards. Namely, you may need to pay fees that come as a percentage of the overall transaction that you’re making, and, again, these fees may add up in time and reach a significant sum. And when using Bitcoins to make payments, you won’t need to pay any fees, owing to the lack of intermediaries that may charge you.
But herein lies one of the major advantages of using credit cards as opposed to Bitcoins. The fact is that there’s an added layer of fraud protection if you use credit cards, as opposed to Bitcoins. This is because the intermediaries may intervene on your behalf and get you your money back if you’ve been defrauded, which is not possible for this particular payment option due to the lack of any intermediaries in the world of Bitcoin transactions.
And then there’s the fact that with credit cards, the temptation of overspending will always be there due to how easy it will be. You won’t have such a problem if you use Bitcoin to make payments. And while casinos are generally highly generous towards the users of both payment methods, it holds true that, in general, the users of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency payment methods are favored and pampered with huge bonuses that can’t be found anywhere else.
Conclusion
So, regardless of whether you choose credit cards or Bitcoins to make payments in casinos on the internet, you will most likely have a seamless payment experience either way. But, of course, both of these methods have their advantages and respective disadvantages. Only by keeping a watchful eye will you be able to determine which is the right payment method for you based on your own needs and preferences.
There are several credit card options that you can choose from, and all of them have their own quirks in terms of payment fees. So, this may make things a bit more difficult for you when selecting the credit card that would be most suitable for you. The same could be said about the various cryptocurrencies, even though we recommend Bitcoin for general use.
But still, the most important thing that you can do to improve your online gambling experience is to find the right online casino that will serve your needs and wishes properly. And the payment options are of secondary value and importance when compared to the quality of the casino platform and the number and quality of games available to play. Luckily, it’s not at all difficult to find an online casino where you can have a quality online gaming experience, regardless if it’s a casino where you can fund your account with a credit card or a casino that you can fund with Bitcoins.
