Are Bitcoin casinos legal, legit and provably fair?
In this article we’ll explore the topic that is interesting to many Australians who gamble online. Those who haven’t yet had experiences with bitcoin casinos may be overly cautious as they’re concerned with the legality and fairness of the whole thing.
That’s why we’ll answer your questions right here and you’ll find out if bitcoin casinos are legal, which of them are legit, and which are provably fair. Of course, we’ll also explore the legality of bitcoin in Australia to wrap this all up.
If you don’t mind a spoiler – it’s legal to use bitcoin for gambling in Australia and you can visit Bitstarz to gamble right now, tax free. For more information read the rest of the article.
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Provably fair bitcoin casinos
In the early days of bitcoin, circa 2013, some dice casinos emerged that allowed people to gamble in bitcoin. Then, it became a thing for the dice casino to be provably fair because many of these were not. But none of that has anything to do with today’s bitcoin casinos which are on the same level of trustworthiness as the traditional online casinos – and some are even better than them.
Since the pokies and other table games on offer at bitcoin casinos are not created by the casino itself, but by a reputable provider such as Betsoft, you can be sure the games are provably fair. Those are the same pokies you’d play in a traditional fiat currency online casino – so it’s the same thing. Identical, to be more precise.
There are, of course, bitcoin casinos that are no good, but you won’t see them mentioned here. If you want a provably fair bitcoin casino simply visit Bitstarz.
Legit bitcoin casinos
When we say “legit”, we mean a casino that’s really there for the player. A casino that pays, treats the customers fairly, and offers them a fantastic gambling experience without wanting to somehow do something bad to the player.
Bitstarz definitely fits that bill as this is not only the best bitcoin casino out there, but probably among the best overall. The reason why this casino is often mentioned as the best one is its customer service that’s second to none, and there’s also a huge welcome bonus package with bonuses up to 5 BTC! To add to that, Bitstarz has lots of pokies you can play, including all the Betsoft pokies (which are the best pokies you can play online from Australia, by the way).
In short, when searching for bitcoin casinos you won’t have anything to do with some unregulated bitcoin-only casino that has its own games, but you want a proper casino that also accepts bitcoin. Bitstarz is the best of these.
Legality of bitcoin
Australia has been very progressive in its treatment of bitcoin, and already in 2017 stated that bitcoin is legal. It is even legal to receive salary or wages in bitcoin, so it’s no wonder that you can freely hold, exchange, or use bitcoins in any way you want.
Bitcoin is treated as a property according to Australian laws, and is subject to Capital Gains Tax if you make money on trading bitcoin.
Legality of gambling in bitcoin
When it comes to using bitcoin for making payments and receiving withdrawals from an online casino, since all these casinos convert bitcoin to fiat and vice versa, bitcoin is simply a vessel for making a fiat transaction.
In this case there are no capital gains, and the value of the transaction is the fiat value of bitcoin at the time of transaction. For more information, read what Australian Taxation Office has to say about bitcoin.
When it comes to online gambling in Australia in general, Australian residents are free to gamble online at any casino that will accept them as customers, there can be no legal consequences for the player, and there is no tax. Check out our article Is online gambling legal in Australia? for more in-depth information.
When these two things are combined, the bitcoin laws and the gambling laws, we come to the conclusion that it’s perfectly fine to gamble online and use bitcoin for depositing and withdrawing. Now the only thing you need is a good bitcoin casino – and you know by now the answer is Bitstarz.
Bitcoin transactions
Bitcoin transactions are, unlike many fiat currency payment methods, irreversible. That’s why it’s vital for the bitcoin address to be entered properly without errors, which is a process that can be facilited by a good online wallet such as Coinbase or Bitpay.
Always pay extra attention and double-check the bitcoin address you’re sending bitcoin to, whether it’s a transaction towards the casino or back towards your bitcoin wallet.
Cost of transaction
Let’s take Bitstarz as an example for making a bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin deposits to Bitstarz are free, and so are withdrawals when you decide to take your winnings. That leaves us only with the so-called bitcoin miner fee, which is a fee for making a bitcoin transaction.
As you can see for yourself in the chart on this page, miner fees vary over time, and the thing that has the most impact on the current bitcoin miner fee value is how many transactions are there. Meaning, during peak times of popularity (as in, when bitcoin is going to the moon and everyone is investing) the miner fee will be higher.
Most of the time, the miner fee will stay below $0.50, making it one of the most efficient ways to transfer money. Only during the dramatic clogging of the entire system at the end of 2017 did the miner fee go above $5.
Crucially, miner fee is the same regardless of the size of transaction. Microtransactions will not be feasible at every point in time, as a $5 fee for a $5 transaction would be just too much in percentage, therefore for microtransactions you need the fee to be below $1 or so.
Bitcoin shines brightest when it comes to large transactions. Say you want to claim that 1 BTC welcome bonus at Bitstarz and are therefore transfering a value of AU$10,000 (at the time of writing). You’ll still only pay $5 for that transaction! There are no other ways to transfer that much money for such a small price.
Miner fees will always exist as that’s how bitcoin miners make a living, and they will vary. By now we know they’ll vary between $0.50 and $5, which is perfectly fine for the purpose of online gambling. To this we must also add the exchange rate, AUD->BTC and BTC->AUD if you intend to always sell bitcoin to get cash.
Conclusion
It is legal to gamble online in bitcoin from Australia, and it’s actually the best currency in which you can gamble. Reason being, transactions are very fast and very cheap, and the bitcoin bonuses are incredible.
We also solved the question of recommending a reputable bitcoin casino, so there’s nothing left to say. Go ahead and sign up with Bitstarz, then change some fiat money to bitcoin with the help of a bitcoin exchange or/and a bitcoin wallet, and deposit to Bitstarz to claim the bonus!