Online Casino Deposit and Withdrawal Guide If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting any of South Africa's live casinos, you know how easy it is to get your money into the game. All you have to do is feed your banknotes into a slot machine or purchase chips from the dealer at your gaming table and you can start playing.
This is a complete step by step guide on how to convert your money to Bitcoin for the purposes of gambling online (although the same steps can be taken if you are interested in sports betting or playing poker as well.)
It might take a little bit of time to get used to but once you do, it’ll make playing at an online casino much more hassle free and seamless.
So without further ado let’s dive right in!
Why would you use Bitcoin?
Simply put, using Bitcoin is the the most efficient and effective way for US players to play at online casinos. If you’re not taking advantage of Bitcoin when transferring money, you are missing out, and here’s why:
Anonymity and Safety
For those of you concerned with the ambiguous US laws, the anonymous nature of bitcoin provides an extra layer of comfort.
Unlike regular fiat currency, your personal information is not tied to the transactions you make via Bitcoin so there is no trail that can identify what you purchased.
Furthermore, bitcoin is not regulated or produced by any government or financial institution so it is impossible to have your funds seized or frozen.
No Transaction Fees
Since Bitcoin transactions aren’t processed by banks or financial intermediaries, online casinos don’t charge money transfer fees on Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. By reducing fees and helping you keep more of your funds, Bitcoin solves some of the biggest issues that appear when depositing and withdrawing regular, fiat currencies to and from offshore casinos like Bovada and BetOnline.
While we do think Bovada is the best online casino option for US residents, they charge a whopping 5.9% fee on all subsequent credit card deposits (the first is free)! Even worse, fees increase to 9.9% when making an Amex deposit!
When compared to the alternatives, depositing to Bovada using Bitcoin blows the competition out of the water; for example there are absolutely no fees charged by Bovada when depositing funds through Bitcoin.
Processing Speeds
Another avenue where Bitcoin has a dominant advantage over fiat currencies is with payment processing speeds.
If you were to request a withdrawal via check from Bovada (since they don’t do direct bank transfers due to the UIGEA), it could take up to a month to be delivered and even then, there’s still a possibility your bank won’t accept it.
If you were to withdraw using bitcoin instead the transaction process is extremely fast and can take up to 15 minutes.
Buying Bitcoin from an Exchange
Now that you’ve made the decision to reap the rewards of cryptocurrency, it’s time to buy Bitcoin from an online cryptocurrency exchange. There are many places to buy Bitcoin with fiat currency, so your choice ultimately comes down to personal preference. I like to use Gemini and go with a nice fix of simplicity and fee minimization, but another easy place to start is Coinbase.
Most all cryptocurrency exchanges charge transaction fees, but they are usually miniscule compared to the amount you’ll save when avoiding the money transfer fees of online casinos.
Regarding fees, using Gemini will give you significantly more purchasing power than Coinbase. At face value, the two exchanges appear to have similar rates:
Coinbase takes a minimum conversion fee of 1.49% when buying through a U.S. bank account, while Gemini charges a maximum fee of 1.00%. However, Coinbase also charges all U.S. users an additional 4% fee on deposited amounts (reflected in a higher BTC/USD rate), while bank transfers to Gemini are completely free.
If you want to go with a quicker, more convenient option, you can pay for Bitcoin using a credit/debit card on Coinbase and avoid having to link a bank account, but you’ll be hit with a 3.99% conversion fee alongside the Coinbase deposit ‘base fee’ of 4%. Additionally, you should be aware that some credit card providers may charge additional fees on cryptocurrency purchases.
For visualization purposes, these three options and their fee structures are compared below:
| Gemini (Bank Transfer) | Coinbase (Bank Transfer) | Coinbase (Credit/Debit Card) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion Fee | 1.00% | 1.49% | 3.99% |
| Deposit Fee | – | 4.00% | 4.00% |
| Fund Bitcoin With Credit Card You’ll be using this value to send Bitcoin from Gemini to so make sure you copy it EXACTLY otherwise you will end up sending BTC to the wrong person or into no man’s land; Bitcoin transactions are irreversible. Now, renavigate to Gemini to withdraw your BTC from the exchange and send it to your Bitcoin wallet. [TRANSFER FUNDS > Withdraw From Exchange > BTC] Then, input the address you just copied into the “DESTINATION ADDRESS” box, and then enter the amount of BTC you want to send/withdraw. When you’re ready, click the ‘REVIEW WITHDRAWAL’ button. Double check that your address matches up, then confirm the withdrawal. After confirming the transaction, you should now see it appear in your Electrum wallet within minutes. It will probably be unconfirmed on the Bitcoin network, however, meaning that you will have to wait for more Bitcoin network confirmations before having access to the funds. This process should only take a few minutes. When everything is cleared, you will be notified of the confirmation and ready to deposit your BTC to an online casino. Depositing to an Online CasinoThis is a very similar process to what you just did in the previous step when transferring funds from the exchange to Electrum. However, this time you’re going to transfer from Electrum to the online casino’s wallet address. First, login to the casino you choose to play at (For the purposes of this tutorial, I am using Bovada, which I recommend for U.S. players). After you are signed into Bovada, click ‘DEPOSIT’ from the upper corner of the site. Buy Bitcoin With Credit CardSelect ‘Bitcoin’ as the deposit method, provide your personal information, and then click ‘SAVE AND CONTINUE’ to verify your identity and activate the payment method. Entire your desired deposit amount and continue by pressing the ‘DEPOSIT’ button at the bottom of the form. Review all information before copying the wallet address, which is a public address that you can use to send your BTC to Bovada. Once you’ve copied the address, open your Electrum wallet and navigate to the ‘Send’ tab. Paste the provided wallet address into the ‘Pay to’ field. Then, input the appropriate amount of BTC and a description if you’d like. You can also adjust the Bitcoin network transaction fee by moving the slider; transactions with higher fees typically process faster, as these fees are what are used to reward Bitcoin miners for adding transactions to their blocks (and effectively confirming them). You might have to wait a few minutes for enough confirmations to unlock your deposited funds, but funds should be available for use in your Bovada account almost instantaneously. With your casino account now funded via Bitcoin, you are ready to play! Withdrawing Your BTC from an Online CasinoWhen it comes time to withdraw your Bitcoin from an online casino, make sure you do it straight back into your Electrum wallet, similar to the way described above. Request a withdrawal from your online casino using ‘Bitcoin’ as the payment method. On Bovada, you will be asked to provide a wallet address, your mother’s maiden name (oddly enough, the only security option available), and a withdrawal amount. If you are unsure of your wallet address, you can open Electrum, and navigate to the ‘Receive’ tab. Your wallet address will be shown in the ‘Receiving address’ field; copy this for later. Back at the online casino, enter all appropriate information, using your Electrum wallet address as the withdrawal destination. Do NOT withdraw back into your exchange account! As mentioned previously, it’s possible for exchanges to detect withdrawals from casinos, and they can potentially close your account down. As such, you should always be making deposits and withdrawals from your personal Bitcoin wallet. When you’re ready, request the withdrawal. You will see confirmation of your request. At this point, you may need to wait up to 48 hours for Bovada to approve your withdrawal request and actually send BTC to your Electrum wallet address. You should receive a confirmation email when the BTC withdrawal is approved and officially sent by Bovada. When the time comes you should be able to see that the appropriate amount of BTC has arrived in your wallet. Converting Your BTC Back Into Fiat CurrencyAt some stage, you may want to convert your Bitcoin back into fiat currency, which involves using an exchange like Gemini or Coinbase, as we have used so far in this guide. Converting BTC back into fiat currency pretty much follows the reverse process of converting fiat currency into BTC. You can easily do this by transferring BTC from your wallet to an exchange, selling BTC for USD, and then transferring USD to your bank account, but be aware that further fees are charged on each transaction: 1% on Gemini, and 1.49% on Coinbase.  If you’re looking to reduce fees, you can try registering for Coinbase Pro (which used to be called GDAX), which is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to sell Bitcoin to USD on the market without transaction fees. After you request a USD withdrawal on any exchange, it should take a few days for funds to process and reach your bank account. ConclusionSo in summary the process for depositing to an online casino is: To withdraw from a casino the process is: To transfer funds back into your bank account the process is: It’s a finicky process, but hopefully you’ve been able to get through it without any problems. It’s definitely the best way—especially for US players—to get your money in and out of a casino. If you’re stuck on any of the steps or have suggestions on how we can improve this guide, leave a comment below. Comments are closed. |