Online casinos are closely following the developments of new technologies to provide the best service to their players. It helps brands adapt to continuously developing markets. One of the latest examples in the industry is the implementation of cryptocurrencies as payment methods. Despite that, digital money has been present for over 10 years at this point, and there are still numerous hurdles that blockchain gambling sites have to go through to offer crypto gambling online legally. The rules are not the same in all parts of the world, so we’re going to examine what these casinos are, how they’re regulated in different parts of the world and what are the biggest regulatory challenges they face.
What are Crypto Casinos?
They are online sites where you can make deposits and withdrawals with digital currencies that operate on top of blockchain technology. Most of these brands accept both regular, fiat currencies as well as crypto currencies. Different sites will accept various types of digital currencies, but the majority of them are accepting the most popular cryptocurrencies currently available.
The benefits are security, low transfer fees, and instantaneous deposits and withdrawals. Some fiat methods of payments also have quick processing. However, they are not as quick as digital transfers. These platforms are available all around the world. You can find reliable brands everywhere. All you have to do is know where to look. Review sites will show you the top Czech online casino by playsafecz.com, where you can find all the details about the most trustworthy brands. Before we get into more details on how to find safe brands, let’s take a look at how are these blockchain casinos regulated in various regions of the world.
How are They Regulated?
Cryptocurrency gambling is handled differently across different territories. Let’s take a look at different regions.
- North America — Gambling with crypto remains a challenge when it comes to North America. It will take some time before this method of payment is fully regulated. Until then, all blockchain gambling will remain in the gray area. We’ll see how each state will regulate these, as regular platforms are currently only available in six states.
- Europe — Europe is leading the way when it comes to blockchain casino regulations. Two countries are ahead of others and those are Malta and the UK. While Malta has fully regulated crypto gambling, the UK only has some regulations in place and needs more so the market is fully regulated.
- Asia — In this part of the world, the only country with gambling crypto rules is Japan. On the other hand, others need a lot more work to make any progress. China first has to regulate normal online gambling since that one is completely banned. Then it can make regulations about cryptocurrencies.
- Africa — This continent remains a gray area for sites that offer casino crypto payments.
- South America — This part of the world is only starting to regulate regular casino sites. So it will take some time before countries on this continent get to platforms using blockchain technology.
- Australia — This country has not yet dealt with these types of sites. Similarly to the US, players in this country can only use offshore casinos until the local authorities pass legislation addressing this type of site.
As you can tell, the whole world is still in the early stages of introducing laws that address these types of online platforms. However, some countries are already making progress and following the latest technological trends and developments.
Can You Find Fair Casinos with This Payment Method?
Even though you are in an unregulated territory, you can still access them and have fun playing games with your favorite cryptocurrency for gambling. However, given that the majority of these sites are offshore casinos, you’re not protected by local laws. That means that you need to keep your eyes open before you make any deposits to such platforms.
Luckily, you can still find reliable sites as long as they hold licenses from well-known regulatory bodies. Look for sites that hold a license from the Malta Gaming Authority, it’s one of the most trusted regulatory bodies globally. Plus, the country fully regulates brands that offer gambling cryptocurrencies.
What are the Legal Challenges?
There are three main hurdles when it comes to regulatory challenges.
- AML and KYC standards — The nature of how blockchain works is challenging when it comes to both anti-money laundering and know-your-customer standards.
- Tax regulations — Taxing new forms of payment is still in its infancy, but not completely impossible to do. As long as cryptocurrencies are perceived as fiat ones, taxing will be simple.
- Price fluctuations — This is a challenge for sites as they have to deal with potential losses due to the volatility of the whole market.
But all these hurdles can be overcome with time. Markets that have successfully incorporated platforms offering these types of payments are great examples of how it should be done.
Betting platforms utilizing blockchain technology are becoming increasingly popular. They offer a broad range of benefits to the players but are still in their infancy. We’ll likely see this whole market being more tightly regulated so the brands offering these types of payments can meet the compliance when it comes to AML and KYC. Once this is out of the way, it’s safe to say that, essentially, all sites will accept a wide range of gambling cryptocurrencies. As Bitcoin ETF is soon to go live, we’ll see big institutions coming in and making sure that the whole market is completely safe for all those who want to use this digital form of payment.
