Bitcoin Betting Guide 2020

Best Bitcoin betting bonuses for April 2020:

• 22Bet offers a 100% first deposit bonus up to 122 € to sports betting.
• Cloudbet has a huge first deposit bonus of 100% up to 5 BTC – also to betting!
• 1xBit offers very good first deposit bonus of 100% up to 1 BTC – for casino and sports betting.

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Bitcoin betting guide

Bitcoin betting benefits from Bitcoin’s unique features. Read more about betting with Bitcoin from this guide.

What are the benefits of betting with Bitcoin?

The main benefits are anonymity, almost instant deposits and withdraws and a wide variety of betting choices in the gaming sites. Here is the Bitcoin’s unique features explained in more detail.

1. Anonymity

You don’t have to provide your real name, home address, phone number, credit card number or ID/Passport just to request a payout. In most Bitcoin betting sites you only need a working email address and a Bitcoin address to deposit and withdraw your money and possible winnings.

Please note that some Bitcoin betting sites still need some KYC (Know your customer) for withdrawals for example. This can mean uploading your ID to the casino even though you are using Bitcoins. These things can be read from the Bitcoin betting site reviews.

2. Instant deposits and withdraws

Bitcoin sportsbook sites allow for nearly instant deposits and withdrawals. This is an excellent feature if you want to place a quick bet and the games are starting soon. Or if you happen to win a big amount of Bitcoins in betting, it is always nice to have to money right away to your Bitcoin address.

3. Big deposit bonuses to Bitcoin betting sites

Bitcoin betting sites have unusually big deposit bonuses that cannot be seen in regular online betting sites. For example CloudBet offers a huge 100% first deposit bonus up to 5 BTC! The bonus is released by 0.01 BTC increments for every 800 loyalty points you earn and you have a full year (365 days) to clear the bonus.

This bonus is available for both casino games like slots and also to sports betting, which is quite rare. If you would like to deposit other cryptocurrencies than Bitcoins, this bonus is also available in Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash. Here you can read more about Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash casinos.

4. Competitive odds

Odds in Bitcoin sportsbook sites are usually very good and fully comparable to regular online sportsbook sites. You can also create many accounts to different Bitcoin betting sites and choose the best odds to your specific game.

5. Innovative betting options

Bitcoin sportsbook sites offer also very unique betting options, like the mutual betting at Onehash. What is mutual betting? It means that all bets on the same event are placed together in a pool. The payout is calculated by sharing the pool with all winning bets. So there are no fixed odds and you are practically playing agains other bettors, not the house. Onehash is only taking a small commission of each bet placed.

This is OneHash cryptocurrency sportsbook site that offers a special mutual betting option.

What are the disadvantages of betting with Bitcoin?

Here are some of the disadvantages of Bitcoin betting in our opinion.

1. Lack of casino and betting site regulation

The online casino licenses from Malta and United Kingdom (UK) are generally thought as the strongest online casino licences. What a strong license means? For a casino to get a Malta license for example, the casino has to have an age and identity verification process, checks for payment verification and many measures to control your playing in case of a gambling problem.

At the moment the Malta and UK casino licenses are not accepting Bitcoin casinos. So the only choice for a Bitcoin bettor is to choose a casino with a weaker player protection like Curacao, Cyprus, Costa Rica or Montenegro. Some Bitcoin and cryptocurrency sportsbook sites can work also without a casino license at all.

A weaker license or lacking license doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get scammed instantly when making the account. But in general, more regulation means usually more player protection in case you run into problems. It is interesting to see if the cryptocurrency sportsbook sites will get more stronger licenses in the future.

2. Fluctuating cryptocurrency value

Like everybody knows, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can have a lot of turbulence in the EUR/USD exchange rate. Of course, one Bitcoin is always one Bitcoin, but some players can find it disturbing that your 100€ deposit in Bitcoins can be worth 80 € next week…or 120 €.

Predicting the value is really hard even for professional traders. But this is the fact you have to face if you choose to place bets with cryptocurrencies.

3. Security and personal mistakes

When using Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, you have all the freedom but also you are the only one responsible for the security and personal mistakes.

If you use VISA or Mastercard and buy a flight or something from an online store, you will usually get your money back if the company goes bankcrypt or somebody refuses to send you the item. Also if someone hacks your internet bank account, the bank is usually responsible returning you the funds if the security flaw hasn’t been your flaw (like forgetting the passwords to a cafe for example).

Using Bitcoin, it is solely your fault if you deposit the cryptos to a wrong address. Or if somebody hacks your crypto account due to an easy password – that’s your fault. Also if a crypto exchange is hacked or goes bankcrypt (genuinely or just vanishes), you most likely will lose all the funds.

So be careful with Bitcoin and other cryptos! It’s all up to you.

The lobby of Cloudbet, one of the best Bitcoin sports betting sites.

Which sports types can I bet with Bitcoin?

You can bet almost everything. Bitcoin betting sites have a very good selection of betting options and practically the selection is pretty much the same than in regular online betting sites.

The Bitcoin sportsbook options vary from English Premier League down to Baseball and eSports Betting. Here are more examples what most betting companies offer:

• English Premier League
• France Ligue 1
• Baseball MLB
• Basketball WNBA
• Canada CFL
• eSports
• Champions League
• Soccer
• American Football
• Aussie Rules
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing, UFC and other martial arts and MMA
• Cricket
• eSports
• Golf
• Icehockey
• Rugby
• Snooker
• Tennis
• Volleyball

Can I place live bets with Bitcoin?

You can also make live bets using Bitcoin. Many Bitcoin betting sites offer the possibility to bet while the game is on. This can include numerous sporting events for you to bet bitcoins to. Sports types can range from Soccer, American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Handball, Ice Hockey, Volleyball, F1 Formulas or Tennis.

The odds can change during the game and that makes live betting so interesting. If you are quick and good in reading the game momentum changes, you can make a good profit with live betting.

Many betting sites offer live bets. Here’s an example of a Bitcoin live betting page at Cloudbet.

What is a Bitcoin betting exchange?

In betting exchange you don’t bet against the betting site, but rather you make bets against other players. The betting exchange acts as an intermediary for players. I haven’t yet found a reputable betting exchange site with support to Bitcoins, but I will let you know on this page if I some day find one.

In the regular online betting sites for instance Betfair has been a successful site implementing Betting Exchange idea for many years for sportsbettors.

Final thoughts

This was my article about the best Bitcoin betting and sportsbook sites in 2020. More sites and reviews are coming soon, so stay tuned for updates!