Crypto Betting Sites in Canada

What are Crypto Payments?

It’s simply the act of paying a merchant with the crypto you have. However, we’re well aware that many of our Canadian readers are not well-versed in what cryptocurrencies are. or, how they work. Let’s try to sum it up as briefly as we can before we move on to the details.

• Cryptocurrencies were designed to become the ultimate cross-border payment method.
• Utilizing cryptography and blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies record all transactions publicly and in the safest way possible.
• Crypto is completely decentralized. It means there is no central authority or governing body to regulate the industry.
• Due to the lack of centralization, cryptos are very volatile. The prices may skyrocket or plunge within a moment’s notice if a big enough transaction takes place.
• Cryptos are amazing for crypto gambling because there’s no need for currency conversions or bank approvals or processing times.

How Does Crypto Work?

If you’re interested in betting sites that accept crypto in Canada, you might also be interested in how crypto works. And to understand how that happens, you need to understand blockchain.

A blockchain is pretty much the fundamental of the crypto industry. It’s a public network where hundreds of thousands of nodes are connected to record and verify the transactions. These nodes are regular people like us. So, there’s no government or financial institutions at play. The goal of blockchain is to create a public ledger that cannot be altered. Once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it stays there, forever. It’s one of the biggest strengths of blockchain in terms of security.

For crypto gambling, however, you first need crypto at your disposal. So, the logical question here is where do cryptos come from? The process of traditional crypto generation is known as mining. At least, for the 1^st and 2^nd generation of blockchains. In simple words, you get a complex mathematical problem or a “block” and you can solve or “hash”. Once the process is completed, crypto tokens are the byproduct.

Now, it’s a very streamlined and simplified explanation and it really doesn’t apply to modern-day cryptos. But it’s still the laying bricks of how cryptos like Bitcoin and Litecoin came about. As of now, mining is not a viable medium to get crypto anymore. The blocks have become very complex and everyday hardware is just not enough to mine or mint tokens. So, your best bet is buying crypto for fiat currency from a reputed exchange.

Worry not because we’re going to take you through the process in an upcoming section.

History of Crypto

Although the idea of a “borderless currency” has been mulled over since the 1980s, the first meaningful development was the Bitcoin whitepaper. Satoshi Nakamoto, which is a pseudonymous person or a group, released the whitepaper back in 2008.

By 2009, the development of the Bitcoin platform began, which is technically the first cryptocurrency ever. In 2010, it got its first valuation when 2 Papa John’s pizzas were sold for 10,000 Bitcoins! By 2011, people started to catch on to the potential of cryptos and altcoins start to pop up. Altcoins are simply short for alternate coins. Litecoin is the most prominent one from that era.

In late 2012, WordPress started taking payments in Bitcoins from its users. It was a massive boost for the crypto industry. 2013 and 2014 were turbulent years for Bitcoin as one of the largest exchanges from that time went down with more than 850,000 bitcoins. 2016 marks the year when Ethereum was developed based on a 2^nd generation blockchain. It introduced the concept of smart contracts that made a blockchain far more than a public ledger.

From there on, it has been a wild ride for the crypto investment as well as the crypto betting industry. At the time of writing, there are more than 6,500 cryptos in circulation and the number is only about to rise.

Crypto Payments in Canada

As there are no central regulatory bodies for crypto gambling, it’s hard to determine when exactly Canada became well-versed in cryptocurrencies. If we have to ballpark, we’d say around 2014.

And now, you can do pretty much everything with crypto in Canada. Do you want to buy a house? Invest in a crypto-only fund? Play at betting sites that accept crypto? Go ahead!

Advantages of Crypto Betting

As the primary focus of our discussion today is crypto gambling, why don’t we draw up the advantages you can expect from it?

Extremely Secure

Although we didn’t go in too deep into how a blockchain works, you know that it’s a decentralized process. It means there is no single point of failure. When compared to centralized networks like the government, banks, or any other financial institution, the whole system may fall apart for 1 person’s mistake.

With cryptocurrency betting, you can say bye to failures. At any point, many nodes are verifying and validating the same transaction. It only records when all of them reach the same conclusion.

Also, the use of cryptography also makes the network extremely safe. It’s almost hack-proof. Even the developers of a cryptocurrency cannot change a transaction once it’s listed. All of these protocols have resulted in an extremely secure environment for crypto betting.

Borderless Transactions

Payment methods have always been a concern for bettors in Canada as well as the rest of the world. An iGaming operator must comply with a lot of regulations to offer an array of payment methods. This is why the methods change quite dramatically from country to country.

When you introduce crypto gambling into the mix, all the fiasco regarding payment methods just vanish. A Bitcoin is a Bitcoin, no matter where in the world you are. The value of Bitcoin will remain the same too. So, when you’re using cryptocurrency betting sites, it’s doesn’t really matter where you are.

Instant Transactions

Another huge advantage of decentralization is that you don’t have to wait for any processing whatsoever. Because there is no authority to process your crypto betting payments in the first place!

In general, a crypto transfer may take up to 5 minutes considering that the nodes in the network have to verify and record it on the ledger. It’s true for both deposits and withdrawals at crypto gambling sites.

Crypto in Betting

Since the inception of cryptos, it’s been a gold mine of versatility. Any industry you can think of is suitable for crypto payments. It includes iGaming. There’s no reason for the operators or the users to not utilize the benefits crypto presents.

Thankfully, cryptos have been a prominent payment method at online casinos and bookmaker websites. In fact, there’s a new uprising in the industry known as crypto casinos. They use a “provably fair” algorithm to let the players enter a seed for the hashing. It’s an enhanced fairness practice that may change the world of online casinos forever.

As for sports betting, there’s not much provably fair can do. It’s primarily because both the outcomes and the bettors exist in real life. The area where crypto betting might shine is virtual sports betting.

How to Deposit and Withdraw Using Crypto?

For crypto transactions, the first prerequisite is a wallet. You can either go for hardware wallets or software wallets. But let’s keep these pieces of information for our crypto onboarding section. In this one, let’s focus on how you can deposit and withdraw at crypto betting sites in Canada.

How to Deposit in Crypto Gambling sites Canada

Follow these steps for a crypto deposit:

• Choose a crypto sports betting site from our list. Make sure it offers the crypto you have in your wallet.
• Sign up and log into your account. Don’t forget to complete any necessary account verifications.
• Navigate to the deposit page and select the cryptocurrency you have.
• You should find a wallet address for the operator. This is the address you need to send the crypto to.
• Go to your wallet, enter the operator’s address, and send the funds.

How to Withdraw Using Crypto

Withdrawals from crypto betting sites are the direct opposite process of deposits. Here is how it goes.

• Log into your crypto gambling account and navigate to the withdrawal page.
• Choose the cryptocurrency the operator is offering, enter your wallet address, and enter the amount you want to withdraw. You’ll find the unique address in your wallet interface.
• As crypto wallets are considered verified, there’s no additional verification for the withdrawals. So, you can expect the coins in your wallet instantly!

How Safe is it to Use Crypto in Betting?

It’s the pinnacle of safety. Remember all the security features we discussed in the advantages of the crypto sports betting section? All of that carries over to the betting industry. The banks won’t bug you for verifications. You don’t have to worry about a deposit being intercepted by hackers.

Moreover, if you’re playing at a crypto casino, you expect the games to be extremely secure because one of the 2 seeds for hashing is generated by your browser! Although it doesn’t change the payout or the true fairness of games, it’s a great way to keep the players in the loop.

How to Get a Crytpo Wallet?

There are hundreds of crypto wallets floating around on the internet. All you have to do is dive in and pick one. But the question is, which one should you go for?

The problem with this question is that we can’t answer it. It has to be you who chooses the wallet. What we can do is explain the difference between hardware and software wallets.

Hardware Wallets

The safest form of crypto wallets. It’s a device where you keep your crypto addresses. It’s encrypted and only the user can open it. As they are disconnected from the internet, it’s very unlikely that anyone can remotely hack into the wallet.

The drawback of hardware wallets is that they’re quite expensive and not really suitable for crypto betting in Canada.

Software Wallet

Software wallets are the mainstream ones. You simply download it from authorized sites, register, and get started. These are very convenient and most modern wallets support plenty of cryptocurrencies at once.

The problem is that they’re not as secure. They’re installed on your computer or your smartphone and are always connected to the internet.

Fees

A great benefit of using crypto betting sites is that there are no fees. At least, we haven’t seen any operator imposing fees on crypto payments. However, there are fees for operating a crypto wallet as well an exchange. The fee is determined based on how much you’re trying to purchase or sell.

Alternatives to Crypto

Cryptocurrency is probably the future of all online transactions. But as long as that doesn’t happen, fiat currency will be king. Also, the on-boarding process with crypto is somewhat complex to this date.

So, it’s normal if you don’t have a crypto wallet or if you simply don’t want to go for crypto sports betting. In that case, you’ll need alternative payment methods. Lucky for you, we have an array of alternate payment methods ready to roll.

Interac

Canada’s very owner interbank network will always take the win for online payments. Pretty much all iGaming operators, both online casinos and betting sites offer Interac for deposits and withdrawals.

You can use Interac Online, an e-wallet for instant transfers and withdrawals. Or, you can use Interac e-Transfer, which is an online bank transfer method to connect your bank account and your cryptocurrency betting site account.

Credit/Debit Cards

As long as fiat currency circulates planet earth, credit and debit cards are going nowhere. It’s because they take up the majority of online payments not just in Canada but all over the world. Thankfully, these cards are accepted at crypto gambling sites as well.

The deposits with credit/debit cards are always instant, much like when you pay a vendor online. But you have to wait for 3-5 days when you withdraw your winnings from a betting site.

E-Wallets

Another commonly found payment method at online betting sites all over the world. E-wallets work very much like bank accounts, but they’re not. You can fund an e-wallet account using other online banking methods.

Although there are fees for pretty much all transactions, the biggest advantage of e-wallets is that both deposits and withdrawals are instant.

Prepaid Vouchers

Prepaid methods like Paysafecard and Neosurf have been around long enough for you to completely trust them. They happen to be excellent methods of paying online gambling sites, including crypto betting.

The problem with prepaid methods is that it’s a one-way ticket. You can only deposit it into your betting account. If you want to withdraw, you have to look for alternatives.

FAQs: Crypto Betting Sites

Is Crypto a safe payment method for sports betting?

Extremely. Cryptography is one of the strongest encryption techniques of our time and the whole paradigm of cryptocurrencies is based on it. Also, all transactions are verified and validated by multiple nodes at a time. So, no payments can be faked or erased from the blockchain.

What methods can I use to buy crypto?

If you’re looking forward to buying crypto from an exchange, pretty much all major fiat currency methods are available. You may use Visa, Mastercard, or any other credit/debit card. You can also use bank transfer methods or e-wallets to purchase crypto.

Is there a verification process for crypto gambling?

Not really. The crypto wallets are considered pre-verified. So, both deposits and withdrawals at crypto betting sites go through immediately.

Do I have to pay fees when I use Crypto sports betting sites?

At crypto betting sites, no. But there are fees for trading, buying, and selling crypto at the exchanges. Also, you may have to pay a small fee for the wallet.

What if my Crypto payment doesn’t go through?

It’s very unlikely. The whole idea behind decentralized payments is to eliminate any single point of failure. The worst that can happen is your transfer may take longer than usual due to high traffic on the blockchain.

How long do Crypto deposits take to go through?

Cryptocurrency betting deposits are credited instantly, just like fiat currency deposits.

How long do withdrawals take from Crypto betting sites?

Usually, iGaming operators perform verifications before the payment is processed. As crypto wallets are already verified, you can expect your crypto withdrawals instantly.