In the early days of online gambling, there were two types of gamblers. The first were the “adventurous” ones who were actually willing to use bank transfers and debit cards. The second were the cautious ones who called the company directly to add funds to their account and even to place sports bets. As the industry grew, debit card and bank transfer payments became more commonplace. Players were asked to wait up to 2 weeks to receive their funds due to pending times and slow tranfers, and even when the industry moved onto web wallets, there was still a long wait. These days, pending times have been shortened to anywhere from a few hours to 3 days and as the industry continues to grow, players are demanding instant payouts. That’s where Bitcoin payments come in. Not only are cryptocurrencies in right now, with more people looking for every excuse to use them, but the speed and ease of use means they are becoming more popular than many traditional options. Here are a few of the features that make Bitcoin one of the fastest ways to gamble: Direct Transfer As long as you have funds in your crypto wallet, you can transfer them directly to an online casino or sportsbook. There is no need to wait for the bank to check and initiate the transaction. In fact, the whole point of cryptos is that there is no central authority dealing with the transaction and this expedites the payment and ensures it gets to where it needs to be without delay. That might sound like a minor issue, but let’s compare it to some other payments for a moment. If you use a bank transfer, you need to find the casino’s bank details and then set up a payment recipient on your bank account. Once that has been completed, you can initiate a payment, but you will need to wait for the bank to accept it and process it. Usually, that process will take just a few hours, but if you’re transferring funds overseas, in another currency, and during the holidays, it could take several days. With credit cards, there is another issue. Not only will you need to pay a cash transaction fee (online gambling payments are processed in the same way as cash withdrawals and so you will incur additional fees and interest charges) but it’s also difficult to withdraw your winnings back to your card. It’s possible, and if a withdrawal is initiated then the money will just be added as credit or used to clear whatever funds are on the card. However, many casinos refuse to process withdrawals using credit cards and this stalls the process. No Verification Checks The reason that some regulators haven’t fully embraced Bitcoin payments is that there are issues with AML and KYC laws, which are used to prevent everything from money laundering and fraud to underage gambling. Simply put, Bitcoin doesn’t tie to a user’s name, address, and bank account, and so it’s technically possible to join using a VPN from a region where gambling is illegal. Most legal casinos have workarounds for this, and they still have a verification process, but it’s not as long-winded as the ones employed elsewhere and it’s usually automated. By removing the long verification process, it greatly reduces the time that players waste processing withdrawals. After all, we’re talking about a process that many customers hate, one that can take several days and include all kinds of issues, from so-called cropped images to blurred pictures, incorrect ID, and more. Bitcoin casino sites which offer this payment option as their primary payment solution tend to be more forgiving of these issues as they don’t have such strict regulators hanging over them. Rapid Transfers To process a Bitcoin payment, players just need to know their wallet ID and follow a few simple clicks. It’s a much quicker and simpler process than signing up for web wallets and funding the accounts and it’s also easier than using bank transfers, voucher systems, and even instant banking options. Back and Forth As noted above, it’s not always possible to use credit cards to make a withdrawal. The same is true for prepaid cards and voucher systems like Paysafecard. Some casinos will also allow you to use methods like bank transfers and checks for withdrawals but not for deposits. With cryptocurrencies, players can deposit and withdraw with the same speed and simplicity. It takes just a few seconds to process payments both ways and this greatly benefits the player and the casino. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.