Bitcoin.com, a prominent information portal on everything related to Bitcoin, has recently launched its own online casino. Bitcoin Games is an impressive gambling hub, with a focus on ease of use, security and profitability for the players.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Roger Ver, the founder and CEO of Bitcoin.com, which owns Bitcoin Games, to let him tell us more about the new platform.
Cointelegraph: Why did you decide to get into the cryptocurrency gambling business now when the market is so full of all kinds of great platforms?
Roger Ver: Bitcoin.com is the perfect domain to become the premier source for anything and everything Bitcoin-related on the Internet. With all that Bitcoin offers to the gambling industry (speed of deposits, minimal KYC requirements, etc.) offering our own casino was a natural step to take. We recently partnered with BitcoinVideoCasino.com, but instead of simply integrating their offerings into Bitcoin.com we decided to build Bitcoin Games on their codebase and add our own flair and features to it.
One of our aims is to offer newcomers to Bitcoin, an immediate use-case where they can quickly see the benefits that Bitcoin offers them in terms of transaction speeds and ease of use, but also offer some of the best odds in the industry to established Bitcoiners who enjoy gambling.
CT: Why should gambling enthusiasts switch to your casino from their websites of choice?
RV: Bitcoin Games offers some of the lowest house edges in the industry with all players expecting a return of at least 99% or higher. On top of this, unlike many of our competitors, we don't engage in any trickery to keep funds on-site when it comes to a player's winnings. Once the funds are in a player's account those funds are the player's to do with as they see fit, either play for more winnings, withdraw in part or withdraw in full. We are also introducing bonuses and unique promotions to players that sign up with their email address, and our support system ensures all player queries are dealt with in a prompt and friendly fashion.
CT: Do you have any advantages when it comes to Bitcoin newbies? Is your casino easy to use for a first-time player?
RV: Given that Bitcoin.com is a one-stop-shop for everything relating to Bitcoin - information, wallets, getting started, etc. - and we offer a service whereby users can purchase bitcoins with their credit card, Bitcoin Games is perfect for Bitcoin newbies who want to have a little fun with their funds. Our casino couldn't be easier for first-time players to use. No registration or sign-up is required as accounts are automatically created upon visiting Bitcoin Games; all a player has to do is scan their account's deposit QR code or paste their deposit address into their Bitcoin wallet and they can play immediately!
CT: What about government interference? Do you have any precautions in place for possible crackdowns?
RV: Bitcoin Games must be mindful of government interference, and unfortunately citizens and residents of the US, Iran, N. Korea, Syria, or any other country in which our services would be illegal are not allowed to play for real bitcoins on our site. This is an unfortunate consequence of politicians and lawmakers taking it upon themselves to tell their citizens what they can and cannot do with their own funds. Hopefully, we'll see a time in the near future where these ridiculous laws are repealed and people will be able to spend their own money however they please.
In terms of precautions for possible crackdowns, Bitcoin Games operates purely outside of the fiat currency realm and as such we have no immediate concerns to government crackdowns. This is, however, something we keep a very close eye on and our policies will evolve as necessary. We will continue at all times to protect our players’ bitcoins and their right to play in our casino with their own funds.
CT: You seem to have big plans for the future development of your platform. Is there anything in particular that the players should look forward to?
RV: We do indeed have big plans for future development, not just on Bitcoin Games but for the whole Bitcoin.com platform. Where Bitcoin Games is concerned we have plans to introduce a dedicated Android app in the future to allow people to play more easily on the go, wherever they might be, and we are also going to be introducing all sorts of great bonuses and fun promotions which we encourage players to take advantage of by signing up with their email address.
For Bitcoin.com, we are branching out into many different aspects of the industry and our ultimate goal is to help promote Bitcoin adoption by having all the information and every tool which a user would need in the one place. To further that goal, all profits from our casino are reinvested into Bitcoin.com as a whole, so simply by playing on Bitcoin Games players are helping encourage Bitcoin awareness and adoption around the world!
The rise of Bitcoin gambling: popularity and competition
Online gambling has been one of the biggest scenes in Bitcoin, almost since its very appearance back in 2009. The anonymous hands-off approach of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been an ideal match for all kinds of online casinos, whose users want to get in fast, win big and leave with their prize.
As a consequence, large fortunes have already been made in Bitcoin gambling, even with the industry being just over five years old. For example, the $11.5 mln acquisition of Satoshi Dice by Erik Vorhees back in 2013 has been regarded as one of the earliest, if not the first “big business buyout” in the Bitcoin industry.
When it comes to the players themselves, the largest reported win to date belongs to a person nicknamed Nakowa, who in 2013, managed to win $1.3 mln worth of Bitcoins.
It’s no wonder that when stakes are this high, the competition becomes incredibly fierce. With new casinos being launched and others going out of business almost every week, it takes a truly exceptional offer to stand out.
Instant deposits, withdrawals, and 39 available altcoins
In that regard, Bitcoin Games looks to be one of the strongest competitors of today. First of all, they offer the full range of expected casino games in one place, including poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno, slots and dice. While not a unique feature, it adds to the convenience of the service.
The approachability and ease of use are clearly one of the top priorities for the developers as evidenced by several other features. The players are able to enjoy instant deposit & play, with the funds being available for gambling as soon as they are sent to Bitcoin Games.
The instant withdrawal of winnings becomes available as soon as all prior deposits receive at least two confirmations on the Blockchain. Bitcoin Games also claims that there are no hurdles for withdrawals, which some of the less unscrupulous casinos commonly implement in order to prevent players from leaving with their prizes too fast.
Withdrawals are instant and do not require approval in most circumstances, the exception to this being amounts larger than the funds in the site’s hot wallet.
One crucial and unique feature is Bitcoin Games’ integration with Shapeshift, an instant cryptocurrency exchange service. It allows users to play for Bitcoin by depositing an altcoin of their choice, out a list of 39 available cryptocurrencies.
This makes Bitcoin Games one of the only online casinos where you can easily deposit and place using such coins as Monero, Ripple, Steem, Zcash, and others.
Security and anonymity
Convenience isn’t the only characteristic that the enthusiastic players want to see in a perfect casino and Bitcoin Games understands that. Therefore, they place an equal emphasis on security and anonymity.
Each account is identified by an automatically generated unique access URL, which can be further secured by a password and a 2-factor authentication app. Withdrawals can also be locked to a fixed withdrawal address meaning that even if a player did allow their account to be compromised, funds could only be withdrawn to their address of choice.
There is no need to provide any personal data, and the platform does not collect any info which could be used to identify players, such as IP addresses.
The only connection between your unique URL identifier and yourself is the wallet which you use to deposit funds to your account. However, that connection can be easily severed through the use of one of many available services, such as various Bitcoin mixers.
The house always wins, but the players do too
Another important advantage of Bitcoin Games is the fairness with which it treats its users. Some of the lowest house edges on the market, ranging from 0.2% to 1%, depending on the game, as well as a generous referral program, are a testament to that. Bitcoin Games is also provably fair, which is slowly becoming an industry standard.
An API, which can be used by any outside developer to host Bitcoin Games on their own website or app, wraps up a full stack of features which make the new platform a tough competition to beat. It stands out as one of the most approachable, secure and fair cryptocurrency casinos currently in existence.