You’ve seen it all over the internet; Bitcoin is here to stay – no matter what the FCA thinks.
Cryptocurrencies have gone from an outlier to a mainstay in the world of economy, currencies, and trade. Now, Bitcoin is listed by the SEC in the United States as a security, and as a commodity by the CFTC. In the UK, they still fall outside the realm of regulatory remit.
That said, the United Kingdom is catching up and ‘exchange tokens’ such as BTC are now called Security Tokens by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). So, it seems that cryptos will fall under regulatory remit in the near future. That is if they don’t end up banning all cryptos. They seem to teeter back and forth.
Last July the FCA proposed an all-out ban on cryptos. Then in August, it seemed things were changing for the better and as far as the watchdog’s outlook on cryptocurrencies … then it goes backward again.
But in a lot of ways, it really doesn’t matter what the FCA decides, the very nature of BTC is for it to not be regulated by central banks and authorities like the FCA and SEC. If a ban did go through, how it would affect the lives of crypto users in the UK is up in the air. It really would depend on the amount of money Her Majesty’s Government is willing to sink into actually enforcing such a ban.
For the time being, we can still do as we please with the digital currencies or ‘security tokens’. And one of the most util daily uses for BTC (BTX) is for punting on games at your favorite bookmakers.
However, because of the UK’s uncertain future with BTC, many of the most famous bookmakers such as Will Hill and BET365 don’t accept cryptos for funding accounts and withdrawing winnings. That said, there are plenty of options on sportsbookreview.com where to bet, we’ve put together a list of top-rated, trustworthy books that you can use your cryptos at:
- Bovada
- Bookmaker
- BetOnline
- Heritage Sports
- 5Dimes
- YouWager
- Intertops
- JustBet
- SportsBetting AG
- WagerWeb
But Why Use BTC for Betting
The first part of this answer is as simple as it is convincing. The most significant reason is the speed of deposits and payouts. Bookmakers are notorious for dragging their feet on payouts and also adding ridiculous fees each time you want to get your winnings. Part of this is because of transfer fees for using the central banking systems, and another aspect is because of the nature of gambling online, there is an intensive verification process.
BTC streamlines this. Instead of it taking a couple of days to initially fund your account, and up to a week to get your money out, BTC transactions move money in and out of your sportsbook in a matter of minutes. On top of this, BTC is on the blockchain so it is secure. Your sportsbook can’t ‘accidentally’ charge you credit or debit card twice or pull any other funny business because there are immutable records on the blockchain. On top of this, there is no way for hackers to scrape your bank details from the sportsbook if your sportsbook doesn’t have that info. There is another win for BTC.
Many bookmakers charge for withdrawals. Will Hill only charges for Bank Wires, but a simple debit card withdrawal takes ‘3 to 5’ working days. So, if you want to pull money out of your account on Friday, you may not see it until the following Friday. With Bitcoin-ready sportsbooks such as Bookmaker, you’ll have your money in minutes and the only fee is the minimal. For example, if you are using Next Block for your BTC exchange, you can have your transaction mined on the next block for a flat fee of $0.64. You can find exchanges with prices as low as $0.19 per transaction, but they could take a couple of hours to be mined. Honestly, a few cents to have my money now so that I can move it in and out and not worry about market volatility is the way to go.
Which brings us to the final point: you don’t need to worry about BTC market volatility because the sportsbooks we listed instantly convert your BTC into US Dollars and sit in your account in that – much more stable– currency.
