In the early days of the online gambling industry, PayPal was accepted on a wide range of gambling websites, including ones based in the United States. That didn’t last very long, and a sweeping ban meant that PayPal wasn’t available anywhere, even in legitimate online casinos.
When companies like Neteller and Skrill began taking over the market, PayPal muscled its way back in, and these days it’s everywhere. But it has a new competitor, one that is more widely available, easier to use, and available all over the world.
That option is Bitcoin, and it is quickly becoming one of the best payment methods for online gamblers. PayPal casinos are still very popular, but they are being pushed aside as BTC takes over, and that’s a change that everyone can look forward to.
<h2>What Does Bitcoin Offer That PayPal Doesn’t?</h2>
Bitcoin has numerous features that you can’t get with PayPal, and these benefit both the players and the casinos, including:
Fast Payments
One of the greatest benefits of PayPal is that it processes payments very quickly. In fact, as soon as the casino initiates the payment, the funds should land in the player’s account. It’s one of the only payment methods that facilitates such hasty payments, but Bitcoin offers the same benefits.
With bank accounts, players often need to wait for between 3 and 5 days. With bank transfers, it can be even longer. When payments are made with Bitcoin, they are processed instantly.
No Merchant Fees
When you send money to a friend on PayPal, you can use the “sending to friends and family” option and you won’t pay a dime. Your friend won’t be charged, either. But when you make a payment to an online casino or retailer, someone needs to pay the merchant fees.
After all, we’re talking about for-profit services here and merchants are not in the business of giving their services away for free. As an online casino, all of those charges can add up. It’s why casinos often insist on minimum deposits and maximum withdrawals and why some of them will even charge their players for making certain transactions.
With Bitcoin, there is no centralized authority. There is no merchant. As a result, there is no one there to take a cut and everything is processed completely free of charge.
Easy Verification
Know Your Customer (KYC) rules require legitimate online casinos to literally “know” who their customers are. They acquire this information through a series of verification checks, and in doing so, they can monitor their customers and ensure they are over the legal gambling age, don’t have any problem gambling issues, and are not money laundering.
Players are often frustrated by these rules and the most common complaints revolve around verification checks. On Bitcoin casinos, many of these checks are avoided and players often need some simple personal details (phone number, email, name) followed by a Bitcoin payment before they are ready to go.
Of course, this speed and simplicity can cause regulatory issues, and that’s why the strictest regulators don’t allow Bitcoin. But other regulators, including the Curacao Gaming Authority, are more than happy to accept Bitcoin and work with Bitcoin casinos.
Secure and Anonymous
Bitcoin is not completely anonymous, but it leaves less of a paper trail than other payment options and for players worried about their safety, that’s very important. Bitcoin payments are also completely safe and secure, and providing the player keeps their wallet safe and doesn’t send money to suspicious retailers or individuals, the risks are minimal.
Bitcoin and the Future of Gambling
The pandemic has changed the world of finance and business. It has revolutionized the way that we communicate, play, and gamble, and those changes are exciting! Bitcoin is clearly not perfect, but the same thing could be said for PayPal, Neteller, Visa, Mastercard, and all the other payment methods used at online casinos.
What matters is that it offers huge benefits for merchants and players and provides the sort of speed, coverage, and accessibility that you just can’t get with other payment options.
As the United States continues to embrace the online gambling sector, payment options like Bitcoin will provide the industry’s biggest operators with opportunities not offered elsewhere.
