Bitcoin

Bitcoin Casinos – the big BTC Casino Test 2021

Bitcoin casinos have already been around for a few years. In Canada, however, they are only now gaining more and more importance. In particular, the entry into force of the transitional regulations to the new Gambling Act passed in October 2020 are considered an accelerator for BTC as an alternative currency in online gambling.

Hardly anyone believed that bitcoin would one day become “socially acceptable” about a decade ago. In the meantime, BTC is increasingly competing with classic real-money currencies – especially in the gaming industry.

Within a short period of time, the best-known of all cryptocurrencies has become a popular means of payment for casino players.

This is due to various factors:

• Bitcoin casinos usually have significantly higher limits or no limits at all
• BTC payments often qualify for the welcome bonus
• More and more “classic providers” accept cryptos
• BTC casinos usually have live & table games on offer
• BTC is now generally considered reliable
• Those who acquired Bitcoins early on benefit from the increase in value and have “play money” at their disposal

What actually is Bitcoin?

Bitcoins are not a physical currency, but a virtual one, and are thus only available digitally. With them, the “era” of cryptocurrencies began about a decade ago. Today, digital wallets offer options such as Ethereum, Litecoin or even Bitcoin Cash, with BTC actually still leading the way.

Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency. Its value has increased from a few cents to several tens of thousands of euros in recent years.

Translating the term Bitcoin is relatively easy, as it is composed of bit, the smallest digital storage unit, and coin, which means nothing else than coin. Thanks to decentralized trading, BTCs are not connected to banks.

While other crypto coins are generated and can only be bought directly via corresponding wallets, Bitcoin 🪙 offers the possibility to “mine” it via the computing power of one’s own computer, or a larger server. The smallest unit is called Satoshi, whereby this term is based on the name – or pseudonym – of the Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.

Fun Fact: To this day, it is unclear whether said inventor is one, or several people. Various people claim the idea of the digital currency for themselves – including Craig Steven Wright, who comes from Australia.

This is how playing at BTC Casino works

Payment in the selected Bitcoin casino is only possible with corresponding BTC credit. For those who do not want to laboriously mine this, various digital assets wallets offer the option to conveniently buy the coins. (directly to the corresponding text passage) It is sufficient to register, deposit Euros with a classic method such as bank transfer or credit card and make the exchange. Network transaction fees do apply, but they are manageable for most providers.

These steps are necessary to make a deposit at the casino:

• Register at BTC Casino and log in.
• Open the cashier, select Bitcoin as the payment method.
• The casino will generate a QR code or a unique BTC wallet address
• Open own wallet and enter address
• Alternatively: scan QR code via the wallet app
• Select amount, confirm – done!

Good to know: Today, Bitcoin casinos increasingly rely on 2-factor authentication. With this, the transaction can be doubly secured – via the free Google Authenticator. The system is recommended where it can be optionally selected, especially for larger transactions.

Usually, Bitcoin deposits are credited 💳 within 10 minutes, although the duration depends a bit on the selected digital wallet. Once the confirmation is done, the favorite games can be played with BTC immediately.

Exceptions prove the rule, because in some Bitcoin casinos the balance is converted into euros or another real money currency before the game starts – ultimately only to give players a better overview of stakes and winnings.

For example, at Woo Casino or 20Bet, players usually play in euros, while at Crypto Casino Cloudbet, some games are displayed in fiat currency. For example, Elemento by Fantasma Games or Adventures of Doubloon Island (Triple Edge Studios).

Buy Bitcoin: Via reputable and secure crypto wallets

Bitcoins are most easily available via said wallets. As noted, a deposit in real money currency is possible there, which can be as high as you want. We have tested the most popular and largest wallets. Among them are the following providers that allow the purchase of BTC.

Practical tip: In fact, as described in the detailed reviews, there are certain differences in the area of network transaction fees. It is best to compare these in advance.

Advantages & disadvantages of Bitcoin casinos

What are the advantages of Bitcoin as a payment method in the casino?

For Bitcoins, and of course all other cryptocurrencies, different standards apply compared to fiat currency. The BTC rate is not linked to bank and real money currencies. This is an advantage for investors – but also for all those whose choice falls on a Bitcoin casino.

Especially those who have bought Bitcoins at an early stage will benefit from the high price increase. This also means that you may have additional “play money” at your disposal.

Attention: Oh who plays with Bitcoins, should keep the topic of bankroll management in mind. In any case, you should only bet those amounts – in this case Coins – that you do not need for your daily life. If you want to buy BTC, you should only use money that is not needed to cover running costs.

The main advantages of Bitcoin payment at a glance:

• Payment process secure and fast
• Relatively low transaction fees
• Reliable data protection
• No banks interposed
• BTC independent from rates of physical currencies
• No deposit limits
• Mostly significantly higher payouts possible
• Live casino and table games available

What are the disadvantages with bitcoin casinos?

Even though the trend is moving more and more in the direction of digital currencies, the market in the area of BTC casinos is still manageable to date. However, one can already see a positive trend, so that speculatively a massive increase in acceptance can be assumed in the medium term.

Some things must be taken into account when making casino payments with Bitcoins. In particular, BTC owners themselves are responsible for protecting their assets – precisely because no banks take over this task.

The disadvantages at a glance:

• Coins not yet accepted by all casinos
• Sometimes crypto payments are excluded from the bonus program
• Price fluctuations are to be expected
• Security also depends on your own computer/device
• Often limited game offer

Important tip for security: cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin can be held on so-called cold wallets. These are, for example, USB sticks or hard drives on which the coins are stored and not connected to the Internet.

Unlike hot wallets such as those mentioned above – including Bitpanda, Binance and Coinbase – this method 💰 offers the greatest possible protection for the coins, as they are disconnected from the network. However, no one is responsible for the loss here, so the cold wallet is solely the owner’s responsibility.

Playing in different Bitcoin units

When the BTC came up, there was often talk about so-called Satoshi. This unit is the smallest of the digital currency, although it hardly plays a role in online casinos that allow gambling with Bitcoin today. In Satoshi, in particular, the units mined were calculated, because, as already explained, there is the possibility of using his personal computing power to “collect” Bitcoin.

More interesting, on the other hand, is the classification that casinos give when playing games. Here are the two most important ones:

• mBTC – Translated, this is talking about the milli-Bitcoin. One mBTC is therefore 0.001 Bitcoin
• µBTC – also called Micro-Bitcoin. One µBTC is therefore equal to 0.000001 BTC

The units are used in gambling because, of course, far lower stakes are allowed than 1 BTC, especially since the Bitcoin value is currently (as of October 2021)[3] just under 50,000 euros. So that Bitcoin casino customers do not have to laboriously count zeros first, the providers make use of the simple conversion. In addition, mBTC is considered a popular betting limit in the casino bonus area when applying the Max Bet rule. (Example 3 mBTC at mBit Casino, or 1 mBTC at Bitstarz).

How can you recognize reputable BTC casinos?

Just like in “normal” online gambling, the following applies: security is only guaranteed in Bitcoin casinos if they are providers with an official gambling license. In the case of BTC, these are usually operators with a license ✅ from Curacao. Our ranking only includes brands that we have thoroughly tested and which meet our strict test criteria.

Caution: If you read about “Bitcoin casinos without a license”, this does not automatically mean dubious players in the industry, but often refers to providers that do not adhere to the Canadian transition rules and instead refer to their international authorization. These are often referred to as casinos without a license, even though they have one. Casinos without a license is simply the abbreviation for casinos without a license in Canada. Therefore, this does not at all mean that player protection falls by the wayside in this case.

On the contrary, if it is a reputable BTC casino, it is also assumed that the operators take further protective measures – including, in particular, the option for self-exclusion or the establishment of loss or playing time limits – in addition to the minimum requirement for the license.

Bitcoin casinos are “demonstrably fair”.

The hash function behind BTC Casinos almost completely excludes decoding and thus ultimately also hacker attacks. At the same time, no manipulations can take place – neither on the credit itself, nor on the cryptographic algorithms of the Bitcoin games 🎰.

Another advantage of playing in online casinos with cryptocurrency: All odds or payout rates are traceable in real time. Customers always have the opportunity to view the individual values of each game round and check their fairness.

• What does the “Verifiably Fair” method mean?
• Verifiably fair through hashing technology
• Verifiably fair using the example of Blackjack
• What does the “demonstrably fair” method mean?

To answer this question, one must realize that Bitcoin has cryptographic value. Translated from the Greek, cryptography is equivalent to “secret writing.” The method behind cryptocurrencies works in which data is secured and written in such a way that it becomes readable only by the person for whom it is intended.

As complex as the system is to comprehend, it is advantageous for players in online casinos. Basically, customers assume that games are connected to random generators and cannot be influenced by the operator, by a third party or by the player himself.

Thanks to Bitcoin, the possibility now arises to make this alleged fairness verifiable. This creates the same transparency that is familiar from local casinos.

Interestingly, companies in the industry that do not accept Bitcoin payments and generally do not use cryptos can also be demonstrably fair. The technology itself is provided by Bitcoin. Every casino thus has the option of adopting it after receiving permission, in order to give customers a better feeling and thus ultimately more security.

Proven to be fair by hashing technology

The US National Security Agency, or NSA, has developed one of the most secure hashing techniques, called SHA256. This process protects data in the best possible way because every piece of digital information is automatically converted by the technology into a unique hash – also called a data string. If only one character were to be changed, this would result in a completely new value, which, however, would not be sufficient to access the original data string.

With this method, it is now possible to offer a demonstrably fair basis for online games of chance.

Demonstrably fair using the example of Blackjack

• Step: The demonstrably fair technology is already used in the shuffling process at BTC Casino, with hashing taking place in the background.
• Step: Seeds and hashes are generated, data randomized. The hash value now created is sent directly to the player.
• Step: Output of the cards. The game runs in the classical way. Participants do not need to pay attention to anything else at this point.
• Step: Verify hash value, via calculators such as quickhash.com there is now the possibility to obtain the proof. There, the SHA256 generated by the verifiably fair Bitcoin Casino is entered. Now it can be seen that the data was correct and thus the game round was also purely random, without any manipulation.

In conclusion, the “provably fair” technology is basically based on providing players with a direct verification of the random hash value. A special button is provided in bitcoin 🎲 casinos. Those who feel the need to verify the fairness of the game can press it and immediately receive the corresponding hash value in the course of the game.

These limits apply when making payments with Bitcoins

In BTC casinos, there is usually significantly more freedom for the player. That is, there is no need for the 1,000 euro deposit limit as well as the 1 euro wagering limit. In most cases, Bitcoin casinos do not specify an upper limit for loading the player’s account, while the minimum deposit can be the equivalent of 10 to 20 euros, depending on the provider – at least these are the usual values.

Especially for withdrawals (but also for deposits) there are limits, but they only apply per transaction and you can make multiple bookings. As advantageous as the approach is for high rollers, however, they are obliged to bear self-responsibility. As for the stakes, maximum bets per spin also apply to bitcoin. However, the maximum amounts are often significantly higher, especially in pure Bitcoin or crypto casinos.

Can I use Bitcoins to play all the games in the casino?

The availability of slots, live games and other categories actually depends on the company. In pure Bitcoin or crypto casinos, BTC can of course be used for all available games.

On the other hand, there are various online casinos today that accept both Bitcoin and real money currencies. In these “mixed casinos”, some titles or even complete providers are sometimes excluded from BTC use.

One example is the Oshi Casino. Slots from NetEnt and also many Pragmatic Play machines are exclusively playable in euros. However, it is possible to make multiple payments and split your budget into euros and Bitcoin, if you want to benefit from the widest possible selection.

The providers make sure to provide customers with a balanced mix of game categories. With BTC, for example, categories such as

• Slots
• Live Casino Games
• game shows
• Video poker
• Or often Arcade Games

Tips & tricks for paying with Bitcoins

Especially because many customers in BTC casinos specifically benefit from higher limits, personal responsibility is required. The most important tip is therefore: your own financial possibilities should always be in the foreground, as with payments in euros – even if bonuses up to 5 Bitcoin seem tempting, of course.

Further recommendations for dealing with Bitcoin casinos:

• Provider comparison regarding promotions, game selection & license.
• Set limits on your own responsibility – if necessary in the casino account
• Compare network transaction fees
• Only use reputable crypto wallets
• If possible, activate 2-factor authorization

Those who want to benefit from the widest possible game selection at companies that accept both bitcoin and euros would also be well advised to make an additional deposit in real money. After all, as already mentioned, not all slot machines and classics are necessarily usable with BTC there.

Bitcoin Alternatives

Many providers in the industry today call themselves Bitcoin casinos. In fact, however, significantly more digital currencies, also called cryptocurrencies, are now permitted there. We have listed some of the alternatives here, which have been experiencing a similarly high acceptance for quite some time.

Additionally, in casinos that are not exclusively focused on crypto payments, transactions can still be carried out in euros. Mostly, they offer the option to select methods like bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller or even Paysafecard, just to name a few examples.

Spend BTC credits locally with MuchBetter

The service provider MuchBetter is now established not only in the field of online gaming. The wallet differs from options like Neteller and Skrill in that it offers customers much more local flexibility at favorable conditions. But what exactly does this have to do with Bitcoins?

Quite simply, BTC can be effortlessly deposited to the MuchBetter wallet via Exodus, Coinbase and other crypto exchanges. The special feature here is that an automatic conversion into euros takes place immediately. So if you want to use your Bitcoins locally for payment, the setup of a personal MuchBetter Wallet is a good idea.

The customer account comes with the MuchBetter Prepaid MasterCard, which is accepted by most local card readers in retail and wholesale. As a great gadget, there is an optional key fob. Once this is paired with the card, payments can be made contactlessly without having to carry your credit card.

A highlight: Since April 2021, MuchBetter customers have a smartwatch (Win Watch). It is available on the provider’s website, costs around 220 euros, and works in exactly the same way as the key fob. By the way, you can also read the time on this 😉.

Bitcoin Casino FAQ

Bitcoin has become quite a well-known payment method – and by far not only in online casinos. Despite all this, questions can arise when it comes to making deposits and withdrawals safely and quickly with Bitcoins.

We have collected the most important questions about Bitcoin casinos in Canadian and answer them in a compact & understandable way.

What are the fees for a Bitcoin payment in the casino?

On the part of the online casinos, transactions with BTC are usually free of charge. However, the posting from the wallet, be it Coinbase, Exodus or Bitpanda, so-called network transaction fees. These are usually kept within limits, so that Bitcoin 🪙 deposits are definitely an alternative to classic methods.

Is there a Bitcoin bonus in the casino?

As always, it depends on which provider you choose. While some casinos exclude cryptos entirely from the welcome bonus, there are sometimes even enormously high bonus offers for Bitcoin payers. Some brands, in turn, rely on changing campaigns. The common feature of most Bitcoin casinos is the VIP loyalty program, from which players benefit in the long run.

Bitstarz as well as Mbit and Cloudbet prove to be particularly generous when it comes to new customers. This is because you can secure a starting credit of up to 5 BTC . That is the equivalent of around 250,000 euros (as of Q4 2021) – you are far away from such figures in real money casinos. However, to take advantage of the full bonus, a deposit of just under €400,000 / 8 BTC is also required.

Of course, bonuses of this magnitude are not simply given away, but are tied to conditions – such as a possible max bet rule or time limits – as in traditional houses in the industry.

Basically, it can be stated that it is quite possible to benefit from welcome bonuses as well as from other campaigns, such as slot tournaments and reload offers, even in a Bitcoin casino. It is important to read through the conditions in order to be able to decide accordingly.

Do casinos allow transactions via bitcoin?

More and more providers are focusing on the innovative alternative to real money currencies. Bitcoins can be deposited there either via well-known online wallets or specifically via so-called crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase and Bitpanda. The deposit 💶 is made via QR code or alternatively by entering an individual BTC wallet address.

If acceptance is given, this is of course displayed in the cashier area and usually also in the lower part of the casino website.

While some casinos – especially those whose main focus is on real money payments – convert BTC into euros before playing, especially the somewhat more modern crypto casinos also allow gambling in the digital currency.

How long does a withdrawal via Bitcoin take?

Unlike a classic bank transfer, BTC withdrawals take only a few minutes – provided that the transaction takes place via named crypto wallets and with the help of an individual QR code.

Only in exceptional cases can a few hours pass before the virtual Bitcoin account is credited. In general, however, the currency actually offers one of the fastest ways to have winnings paid out. Details on the processing times for winnings withdrawals can be found in our detailed tests of the respective crypto casinos.

Are Bitcoin winnings in the casino taxed?

Basically, according to Canadian law, winnings that come from games of chance or lotteries are tax-free. However, some special rules apply to the trading and ownership of Bitcoins.

Canadian tax offices do not treat Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies as currency or as income from capital assets. Therefore, the sale is not subject to the final withholding tax of 25%. This transaction is treated by the tax office as a private disposal transaction and is therefore subject to the personal tax rate plus solidarity surcharge and church tax, if applicable.

Bitcoin sales (and other cryptocurrencies) are only tax-free if the BTC has demonstrably been held for at least one year. The amount of the gain is then irrelevant. A disclosure in the tax return is not necessary.

If the holding period is less than one year, gains up to an exemption limit of 600 euros are tax-free. If the profit exceeds 601 euros, it must be taxed in full. It should be noted that the tax-free limit of 600 euros ⭐ applies to all private sales transactions within one year.

For example, if you buy a painting and sell it within a year for a profit of 700 euros, you have already exceeded the complete exemption limit and the amount of the profit from Bitcoin sales must be taxed in full.

Are BTC casinos licensed?

Those companies that our editorial team presents  are in possession of a gambling license – mostly issued in Curacao. This ensures a high level of security.

Bitcoin Casinos Malta

It is noticeable that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin cannot be found in any online casino that has been licensed by the MGA Malta. At times, the licensor generally does not accept digital currencies, and there is a reason for that:

According to the EU Money Laundering Protection Act, gambling operators must be able to verify money movements at any time. However, this is sometimes not possible with Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, so Bitcoin casinos Malta are not an option for now.

Money laundering protection has a particularly high priority in European online casinos. As the licensing regulations state, it is also about counteracting terrorism in this context. In this respect, Bitcoin and alternative coins cannot be monitored so far, because: As mentioned, there is no link to banks, which makes money movements controllable in the first place.

So if the EU is so strict, how do providers licensed ✅ in Curacao manage to outrank the MGA Malta and allow gambling with Bitcoins in Canada? While many companies in the industry are licensed by the authority in Curacao and are also based there, they usually operate a second location in Cyprus. This island belongs to the EU, so bitcoin casino operations are possible from there.

Interesting: The so-called MGA Sandbox Initiativehas been running at full speed since the end of 2019 and has already gone through the first phases. In said phases, the licensing authority checks whether it is possible to implement Bitcoin in the casino under high security regulations. In the medium term, the chances are good according to the current status that MGA-licensed Bitcoin casinos could also be approved soon.

It can be risky to play at an entirely unlicensed brand.

Conclusion on Bitcoin Casinos in Canada

Bitcoin is on the rise: this is also true in the field of online gambling, where more and more providers allow payment with BTC. In the meantime, there are even pure Bitcoin casinos.

Thanks to real-time deposits, unlimited transactions and, last but not least, a healthy amount of security precautions without drastically restricting players’ freedom, these companies are gaining more and more importance – also and especially in Canada.

Both in terms of quality and the scope of the gaming offer, Bitcoin casinos have long since caught up with their classic competitors and even overtaken them in some areas. Thus, customers of BTC gambling sites are waiting for:

• Attractive bonus offers of the equivalent of several hundred thousand euros.
• Often extensive live casino offers
• Excellent 24/7 customer service
• Fast processing of deposits and withdrawals