Should You Play Casino Games With Bitcoin or Just Hodl It?
Bitcoin has become extremely popular as an investment vehicle. It was only worth a penny when it became available in 2009. At the time of this post, a single Bitcoin (BTC) is now worth almost $50,000!
Of course, BTC has also become popular as a gambling payment method. Its decentralized nature and relatively fast transactions make it a favorite at online casinos.
Given that Bitcoin has utility both as an investment and gambling currency, you may wonder where it’s best used.
Should you play casino games with Bitcoin or just hold it (a.k.a. hodl)? The following guide discusses the case for both playing casino games with BTC and hodling it.
Bitcoin online casinos have exploded in popularity over the past several years. Many players have found that BTC casinos are, in some ways, better than traditional gaming sites. Here are the main benefits that you’ll enjoy when playing Bitcoin casino games.
If you’re somebody who dreams of winning big through gaming, then you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so with Bitcoin.
A number of large BTC jackpots have been hit over the years. Many more of these jackpots are waiting to be claimed.
RealTime Gaming casinos, which commonly accept Bitcoin as a payment option, offer some of the largest jackpots.
Aztec’s Millions and Jackpot Piñatas currently feature jackpots worth $4.42 million and $1.84 million, respectively. You can find plenty of other six- and seven-figure prizes like this at BTC casinos.
Decentralized Payment Method
In the early and mid-2010s, many online casinos experienced major troubles finding payment processors. Even banks and e-wallets that operated in jurisdictions where internet gaming isn’t illegal began rejecting casino deposits.
As a result, lots of gaming sites turned to Bitcoin. BTC is a decentralized cryptocurrency, meaning that it’s not controlled by any single party. No bank can reject your deposit at an online casino.
The only third party involved is the miners who validate transactions. However, they can’t see what your payments are for. They just see a wallet address when they’re validating the transaction.
Low Fees
High fees really put a damper on your mobile gaming experience. E-wallets, for instance, take around 3% out of your withdrawals.
Bitcoin also requires fees to pay the miners who facilitate payments. However, these fees are generally less than 1% of the transaction.
Provably Fair Games Are Available
Most online casinos are good about running fair gaming. They realize that if they’re caught offering rigged games, then their reputations will be destroyed.
Nevertheless, you don’t really have any way to check if an online casino is offering legitimate games. You just have to trust that they are.
Some Bitcoin casinos, however, run provably fair games. The latter refers to games where, through blockchain technology, you can verify if the results are fair or not.
So far, provably fair games don’t offer the bells and whistles that traditional online casino games do. However, they’re worth trying if you want to check the results and enjoy higher-than-average RTP. Regarding the latter, probably fair games often deliver 98% RTP or higher.
Withdraw Money Faster
Some casino banking methods can take forever to deliver funds. Wires, for example, can require up to seven days to deliver your casino payment.
Bitcoin is one of the faster options when it comes to cashing out. You can typically expect your money within one to three days.
Of course, e-wallets are even quicker and will usually send your money within 24 hours or less. But BTC isn’t a bad alternative.
Entertain Yourself
Investing in Bitcoin can be exciting to a degree. You can check the price charts and see what analysts and YouTubers have to say about future price action.
However, the entertainment value of Bitcoin investments only goes so far. BTC casino games, on the other hand, can provide a much steadier stream of entertainment.
You can deposit BTC at an online casino and proceed to enjoy many entertaining slots and table games. You’ll also have the opportunity to earn deposit bonuses, which can sometimes be worth thousands of dollars.
No Guarantee That Bitcoin Will Keep Rising
Bitcoin has experienced a meteoric rise that seemingly knows no bounds. However, its main use to date is as a store of value.
Satoshi Nakamoto originally conceived BTC as a digital currency alternative to fiat. However, Bitcoin’s inefficiencies make it hard to use as an everyday payment option.
It’s certainly capable of sending payments to and from parties. However, it doesn’t have the transaction speed of a credit card to buy gas or convenience store items with ease.
With that said, there’s no guarantee Bitcoin’s price will keep exploding. If it does keep rising to astronomic proportions, then it’ll do so in a volatile manner.
So, if you want to play casino games with BTC, then you can go ahead and do so without fearing a massive price spike on any given day.
The Case for Hodling
While Bitcoin is great for mobile casino games, you can also make a compelling case for buying and hodling it. Here are the primary benefits that you stand to gain by holding onto this cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s Price Will Probably Keep Increasing
Nobody knows with 100% certainty what will happen with BTC. If past history is any indication, though, then its price will likely continue rising.
Bitcoin is subject to market cycles. Its first market cycles were from 2009 to 2013 and 2013 to 2017. It could very well be entering the peak of another cycle now.
Through the ups and downs, though, Bitcoin continues rising. It’s worth almost 50 times more today than it was at the peak of the 2013 cycle.
BTC is worth 2.5 times what it was at the peak of the 2017 run. More than likely, it will be worth more than it is now in 2025 and beyond.
Store of Value
Bitcoin is sometimes referred to as digital gold thanks to its store of value function. In fact, it’s been more of an accumulator of value due to the increasing price.
If you think the US dollar or another currency are declining, then you can put your money in Bitcoin as a way to retain or boost its value.
As MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor says, you’re basically stacking digital gold every time you purchase and hodl Bitcoin.
Hodl and Forget About It
You don’t have to do a lot with Bitcoin when buying it as an investment. Instead, you can simply hold it for a long time and watch the value grow.
Of course, you might think of selling during a crazy price spike. This way, you can repurchase your Bitcoin after a dip and get more of it.
On the other hand, you could take the less stressful approach and just continue accumulating Bitcoin over time. Furthermore, you won’t have to time the market with this strategy.
Work Towards Becoming a Bitcoin One-Percenter
Your odds of becoming a one-percenter through online casino games aren’t great. You’ll likely need to win a multimillion-dollar jackpot to do so.
If you’ve ever wanted to be part of the 1% club, though, then you have an opportunity to do so through Bitcoin. According to estimates, you’d need 0.28 BTC to become a one-percenter if Bitcoin becomes the world’s reserve currency.
Of course, 0.28 BTC costs around $16,000 at the time of this post. However, it could make you quite wealthy if Bitcoin ever reaches the lofty future valuations of $1 million.
Play Bigger Stakes When Your BTC Is Worth More
You don’t necessarily have to stay away from gaming sites just because you’re using Bitcoin as an investment.
Instead, you can temporarily invest in BTC in hopes that the price will go up. If it does increase, then you’ll have an even bigger bankroll.
Alternatively, you can simply deposit your Bitcoin at an online casino and play occasionally. As long as you don’t lose much money, then your bankroll will still increase with the market.
What’s the Verdict: Hodl or Play Casino Games?
You can see that there are good cases for both hodling BTC and playing casino games with it. Your decision will largely depend upon what you value most.
If you’re an avid online gambler who likes Bitcoin as a deposit option, then you should definitely play casino games. This way, you get to enjoy your favorite games while using a handy decentralized banking option.
Assuming you’re also an investor, then there may be no greater opportunity in your lifetime than Bitcoin. Even with BTC sitting at $50,000 today, it has serious growth potential over the next 10 years.
Of course, nothing is stopping you from taking a hybrid approach. You can keep some of your Bitcoin in a wallet and deposit the rest onto a mobile casino.
This route provides the best of both worlds: You’ll play slots and table games whenever you want while still having BTC in reserve.
Conclusion
You don’t necessarily have to take a hardline approach to hodling or playing casino games with BTC. Instead, you can combine both options to enjoy gaming and make long-term money from Bitcoin.
Of course, you may just want to bet with BTC if you’re an avid casino gambler. Bitcoin is one of the most popular deposit methods thanks to its decentralized nature.
As for the investment route, BTC seems to keep going up over time. It may one day be worth $500,000 or even $1 million per coin.
You can’t go wrong either way in my book as long as you’re using Bitcoin in some capacity. But it’s up to you to ultimately decide how to best put BTC to use.
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …