While you may not be able to buy a coffee in Starbucks with bitcoin yet, a growing number of online bookmakers, casinos and poker rooms now accept the crypto-currency. It has become particularly useful for internet sportsbooks that welcome United States citizens as these off-shore operation have typically had credit card processing problems. Bovada only welcome sports bettors from the USA, while their sister site Bodog only services Canadian citizens. Both online betting sites now accept bitcoin for deposits and payouts. BOVADA BITCOIN SPORTSBOOK - WWW.BOVADA.LV
is it hard to buy bitcoin in america? will i need to find one of those bitcoin atm's or is there a safe online store where i can buy them?
Buying bitcoin is super straightforward in comparison to a few years ago. Just create an account with Coinbase.com (or even Circle.com) and then buy the bitcoins via bank wire, debit card or credit card.
A couple of points worth noting.. 1) Deposits with bitcoin are completely free so Bovada customers save between 4% and 5% every time they make a deposit. 2) If you're creating a new account with bitcoin, you can now do so anonymously at Bovada and Bodog.
how volatile is the bitcoin price these days? am i likely to lose half my money if i hold onto it too long?
The bitcoin price is relatively stable these days in comparison to the early days. In general the price trajectory has been upward over the past couple of years. If you are concerned then you should convert your BTC to dollars as soon as your payout has been processed.
Bovada have increased their welcome bonus to 100% to mark the start of the 2016/2017 NFL American football season.
Yes Bovada and Bodog Mobile works on iOS, Microsoft Lumia and every brand of Android phone, including those from Sony Xperia, Google, HTC and Samsung. Since the sportsbook app is installed via the browser it can be used by United States sports bettors.
Do Bovada charge you a fee when you use bitcoin instead of credit cards? Can you also request payouts in BTC?
No. Bovada are doing their best to encourage their players to use bitcoin instead of traditional banking methods so there are zero fees. 100% of your deposit will be available to you to wager with. Compare this to Visa and Mastercard deposits at Bovada where you lose 5% to 7% of your deposit.
On the Bovada website they recommend 3 bitcoin wallets. If you use iPhone they say you should use Breadwallet. Mycelium is recommended for Android users and Electrum is their btc wallet of choice for desktops. Is there any particular reason they recommend those 3? How do they differ from wallets like Coinbase, Airbitz, Circle etc?
You should only use sites like Circle and Coinbase to purchase your BTC. You should not send crypto currency from these exchange wallets directly to gambling websites. Bovada recommend BreadWallet, Electrum and Mycelium because with each of those apps you have full control of your bitcoin and you are free to do what you like with them. Coinbase and Circle are both based in the US and have to abide by the US governments strict antigambling laws. BUY BITCOIN AT CIRCLE/COINBASE > SEND TO BREAD/MYCELIUM > SEND TO GAMBLING SITE If you want to cash out your BTC so move in the opposite direction.