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How To Bet on Sports Using Bitcoin in 2022

VWB Blog 1 year ago 10

The crypto market cap has soared to over $1 trillion. Despite the current bear market, many people are banking on crypto to recover. Looking back at crypto and Bitcoin’s history, we are sure it will.

From the outside looking in, crypto and Bitcoin can seem intimidating. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Using bitcoin is a step in the right direction as far as we’re concerned.

One area we see Bitcoin growing is through sports betting. Learning how to bet on sports with bitcoin may time some time, but it is well worth it. To learn how to get started, we encourage you to read our guide below.

Set Up a Bitcoin Wallet

Setting up a Bitcoin wallet is simple. The easiest way is to download a hot wallet to your mobile device or home computer. While these wallets are more convenient, they are also more vulnerable since they’re connected to the internet.

You’ll then want to store your private key and seed phrase in a safe place. This is of utmost importance since anyone who has access to your private key has access to your bitcoin. Remember the mantra—not your keys, not your bitcoin.

It’s important to note that the bitcoin in your wallet isn’t held in your wallet. Instead, the bitcoin is stored in a database. Your wallet finds all of these bits from the public key.

Buy Bitcoin

Once you’ve set up a Bitcoin wallet, you’ll want to get your hands on some bitcoin, right? To buy bitcoin, you’ll do this on an exchange. There are tons to choose from, with some of the more popular exchanges being Coinbase, Binance, Gemini, and Kraken.

Signing up for an exchange will require you to verify your identity (name, e-mail, phone number, address, etc.) This is because the exchange must adhere to KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations.

Once you sign up, you’ll be able to easily buy bitcoin. You’ll need to link your bank account or credit or debit card to do so. Alternatively, you could also trade bitcoin with another cryptocurrency.

Make sure the amount of bitcoin you purchase is to your liking (including fees, etc.). It may be easier to convert the current value of bitcoin into fiat (US dollars) to determine how much you’d like to buy.

We strongly advise you to never leave your crypto on an exchange. It goes back to what we were saying before about having the private keys in your possession. Once you’ve bought bitcoin on an exchange, you’ll want to send it to your wallet immediately!

Send Bitcoin to Your Wallet

After you’ve purchased some bitcoin, it’s time to send it to your wallet. This is easy to do. From the exchange look for the send button.

On your bitcoin wallet side, navigate to the public address and click copy. Head back to the exchange and paste that public address into the corresponding section. Click to confirm.

The bitcoin transaction shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. You can check the bitcoin blockchain to see if the transaction went through and its current status.

Create an Account

One of the first things you’ll need to do to get started with bitcoin betting is to find a sports betting site and create an account there. You won’t have any trouble finding a sportsbook site that accepts bitcoin.

Once you’ve created an account, find the section where it allows you to deposit bitcoin. You will then see a bitcoin public address which will either be in the form of a long string of letters and numbers or a QR code. From your wallet, you’ll copy and paste the address or scan the QR code to send your bitcoin.

Deposit Bitcoin into Your Sports Betting Account

Depending on what sports betting site you’re using, you may need to deposit the bitcoin into your betting account. Some sites may allow you to bet directly from your wallet (which is more secure).

If you need to send the bitcoin to a betting account, the steps will be pretty similar to when you sent the bitcoin from an exchange to your wallet. You might be able to send directly from the exchange to your betting account, too.

Advantages of Bitcoin for Sports Betting

As someone who’s into sports betting, you’re always looking for an advantage against the odds or your opponents. Bitcoin proposes a lot of advantages to the savvy sports bettor. Let’s see what some of those are as you learn how to bet on sports with bitcoin.

Bitcoin Bonuses

The sportsbooks you use believe in Bitcoin. They don’t want to deal with third-party institutions (banks) for many reasons including fees. For that reason, you are often offered rewards for your bitcoin deposits.

When you reload your deposits, you’ll often be rewarded too! The same isn’t true for legacy systems like fiat.

Once you see the power of Bitcoin, once you start winning, you’ll want to hold some. These days, bitcoin is seen as a store of value (similar to gold). When you hold bitcoin, you’ll be hedging against inflation.

About a decade ago, bitcoin wasn’t worth much. These days, its value is in the thousands. As a deflationary cryptocurrency (21 million hard cap), you’ll be setting your future up for success.

Never Rejected

As a seasoned sports better, you know the feeling when your transactions don’t go through. This is because they are dependent on third parties. When a third party oversees your money, they may restrict or block your transactions.

For example, a lot of credit card companies may see sports betting as a legal grey area. Dealing with this can be a headache as it locks you out of potential earnings.

Bitcoin works differently. They are no middlemen to stop bitcoin from going through. Bitcoin works through a decentralized money system.

This is all subject to the mathematical proofs of the Bitcoin blockchain.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to start transacting with bitcoin! What a beautiful thing in the world of sports betting.

Security

Whenever you need to provide sensitive information, you’re opening yourself up to identity theft. You’ll be pleased to know that Bitcoin doesn’t require any identifying information. The only time you’ll ever need to provide information is when you buy bitcoin through an exchange.

If you’d rather not buy bitcoin using your information, you could buy with cash p2p (peer-to-peer), through a decentralized exchange (DEX), etc.

When learning how to bet on sports with bitcoin, you won’t have to worry about your information being leaked or sold. All you’ll need is your Bitcoin public and private key to get started.

You’ll want a sportsbook you can trust. Head to https://www.bookmakersreview.com/sportsbooks/heritage-sports/ to check out a review of a trustworthy sportsbook that allows for bitcoin betting.

Low Fees

Whenever you use traditional systems like banking and credit cards, you’ll notice how many fees they tack on. These fees are often hidden and can stack up against your profits. There has to be a better way, right?

Due to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, you won’t have to worry about third-party oversight. This means not having to pay a middleman fee. The only fee you’ll have to pay attention to is the miner fee.

A miner is someone who helps maintain the transactions on the Bitcoin network. Since this requires a good amount of computing power, miners are rewarded for their job.

Faster Transactions

Dealing with legacy fiat systems can feel sluggish and outdated. Transactions can sometimes take over 2 weeks to withdraw. Who has time to wait for that?

Bitcoin is a lot faster! You’ll often only have to wait a matter of minutes for the transaction broadcast to be confirmed on the blockchain. Bitcoin deposits are often faster than withdrawals, but they’ll be a lot faster than traditional banking.

Most likely you’ll have to wait 1-48 hours to receive your bitcoin. This will depend on the blockchain’s current level of congestion.

Identity Protection

All of your bitcoin transactions are pseudonymous. This means that while they are viewable on the public ledger (blockchain), nobody will necessarily know they’re coming from you. Traditional banking systems have to report your identity to the IRS due to KYC.

Are Bitcoin Sportsbooks Legal?

When learning how to bet on sports, you may want to know the legality of the situation. That will largely depend on the region you’re in and the regulations. Be sure to do your research before you begin betting with bitcoin.

You’ll want to read up on taxation and capital gains with your bitcoin too.

What Sports Can I Bet on With Bitcoin?

Many of the same sports you’d bet on using fiat you can with bitcoin as well. This includes football, hockey, soccer, baseball, etc.

What Cryptocurrencies Can I Use to Place Sports Bets?

If you’d rather bet on sports using a different cryptocurrency other than bitcoin, you are free to do so. These include bitcoin cash, doge, ether, litecoin, etc.

Keep Learning How to Bet on Sports With Bitcoin

Once you get your feet wet and learn how to bet on sports with bitcoin, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. As you can see Bitcoin presents many advantages in sports betting over fiat. Give it a try and never look back.

Technology and sports are ever-evolving. To stay in the loop, be sure to read our blog.

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