Popular US poker site BetOnline.ag has announced that it will now be accepting bitcoin deposits from its online customers, in addition to its existing payment methods. The move has been hailed by many in the online bitcoin poker community as an important step towards making bitcoin a more widespread and credible form of payment.
BetOnline can confirm that the recent introduction of the digital currency has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on their site traffic – with more poker players visiting the website than ever before.
Bitcoin is now the second most commonly used payment method on BetOnline after credit cards, which is due predominantly to the cryptocurrency’s convenient anonymity, rapid transactions and security. It is becoming more widespread in many areas of commerce and is particularly well-suited to the gambling industry.
Before the announcement, BetOnline had solely accepted funds through the standard payment methods, such as credit cards, money orders and wire transfers. Poker players using the BetOnline site can now simply deposit bitcoins into their BetOnline account, at which stage they will be converted into dollars at the exchange rate provided (an average rate taken from several different exchange sites, to provide a fair exchange). The minimum deposit amount in bitcoin on the site is equivalent to $20, and the maximum daily withdrawal is $2,000. The bitcoin payment method is often preferred by recreational and casual poker players on the site, while BetOnline has found that people who place larger bets are also beginning to favour bitcoins as a payment processing option.
BetOnline is not the first US poker site to integrate bitcoin into their payment method options but it is arguably the biggest to do so. The introduction of bitcoin payment to the BetOnline site is seen as a further positive change in online commerce which could encourage similar moves by other major gambling websites.