Digitalisation has taken over all realms of our life and lifestyle, be it shopping, banking, reading or simply having fun. The financial sector has also been affected by the growth of e-world. This is evident in the fact that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are getting increasingly popular. However, for anyone who has not dealt with such currencies before, it is natural to have questions regarding types of digital currencies, betting with a bitcoin etc. In the following sections, you will get answers to all your questions regarding using bitcoins.
What exactly is a bitcoin?
Bitcoins are digital versions of currency that is being used in place of regular currency in many places, like casinos and sports betting. It is widely being accepted at other institutions also, making it more prevalent by the day. Bitcoins were created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoins are tracked and recorded using a digital ledger system and all bitcoin owners have a copy of this ledger.
How are bitcoins different from regular currency?
The following features of bitcoin trading make them very different from the regular currency as we know it.
- Firstly, sending or receiving bitcoins does not require a monitoring agency or bank, unlike regular currency. This means that you can simply send or receive bitcoins over the bitcoin network. In contrast, regular currency requires you to send money from your account to the account of the receiver. The bank, thus, plays a major role in this process.
- Secondly, unlike opening a bank account, where you need to provide a lot of personal details like name, family history, and identity proofs, purchasing a bitcoin does not have any such requirements. This makes betting with a bitcoin an extremely popular option in casinos and sports.
What are the advantages of using bitcoins over regular currency?
- If you wish to remain anonymous in certain transactions, bitcoins are the only way to assure it, since bitcoins can in no way reveal your real identity.
- Bitcoins can be used in parts. For example, it is possible to break a bitcoin into smaller units and trade in those small units. This makes bitcoins ideal for sending or receiving small sums of money.
- Trading with bitcoins is much faster than tradition money transfer. A typical bitcoin transfer is completed in 20 minutes. Most casinos have switched to bitcoins to transfer winning because transferring regular currency takes a few days and bitcoins does the job within minutes.
Are there any disadvantages of using bitcoin?
- Since there is no bank-like monitoring agency to look at bitcoin transactions, it is the duty of the bitcoin owner to make sure that the transactions are made to the right wallet.
- Bitcoin is accepted at a relatively small number of establishments and owners will have to wait a bit until it increases its reach.
Betting with a bitcoin is considered to be a safer option than betting with regular money. However, you have to be more careful when dealing with bitcoins because only you will be responsible for their use and misuse.
