I've been doing some research on which bitcoin sportsbook to use and the general consensus seems to be that Nitrogen Sports is currently the best betting site. Unfortunately, I also read that you cannot use Nitrogen in the United Kingdom. Does anyone know if this is true?
The Gambling Commission in the United Kingdom (UKGC) introduced new regulations in 2015 that stipulated that any online gambling operator servicing UK citizens had to have a UKGC license regardless of where they were based or what currency was being gambled. The UK Gambling Commission went one step further and wrote letters to bitcoin gambling operators in Great Britain informing them that they were breaking the law by facilitating online gambling without a license.
The good news is the UKGC have recently updated their guidelines to allow bitcoin. Once these new regulations come into effect, Nitrogen Sports may apply for a license.
if nitrogen sports want to get a license to operate in the uk then they will probably also be required to pay a gambling tax on bets placed from inside the uk. since accounts are anonymous i don't see how this would work.
I don't understand why Nitrogen Sports are afraid of the UK Gambling Commission who have as much teeth as a newborn baby but they don't have a problem serving gamblers in the United States even though the FBI might seize their domain, raid their offices and throw them in jail at any point.
NetBet recently became the first UK licensed sportsbook to accept bitcoin. If Nitrogen Sports want to apply for a license from the UK Gambling Commission they would be free to renter the UK market also.
Australia plan to introduce a similar law to the UK that requires ALL gambling operators operating within the country to get a license. If this happens then Nitrogen Sports may also leave the Australian gambling marketplace.
888poker has kicked off their Australian players from their poker platform and PokerStars and PartyPoker are expected to do the same in the coming week due to the governments crack down on online gambling. Aussies can still play poker for real money at any of these bitcoin poker rooms.
i know the UK market is't that big but they should try to corner the market in btc sports betting before the big guns like william hill and ladbrokes start accepting crypto.
It's obviously not worth the legal headache at the moment. Once the crypto-gambling market grow a little larger in Britain then I'm sure they'll reenter. They're not going to leave CloudBet have it all to themselves.
If they are based offshore then why would they care? Some of the directors/owners must be UK citizens who are afraid they won't be able to return home.
CloudBet have now blocked gamblers from the United States. Thankfully Nitrogen Sports still welcomes U.S. citizens. https://forum.bitcoingambling.io/threads/cloudbet-bans-united-states-sports-bettors.361/
Yes, Aussies can still sports bet and play poker at Nitrogen Sports. The only restrictions that Nitrogen have are on gamblers from the UK and Spain at the minute. From time to time they may block players from other countries temporarily because of DDOS attacks.
i presume it can't be too hard to get around the geo restrictions if you are using a vpn. nitrogen allows for anonymous accounts so how are they going to know you are based in the UK if you use a vpn that gives you an IP address outside the united kingdom?
you could use a vpn but many gambling sites have a list of vpn ip addresses that they block also, similar to how netflix stop people from using vpn's to access the united states version of netflix.
Nitrogen Sports still welcome gamblers from the USA so we added them to our list of the best U.S. sports betting sites.
I'm glad that Nitrogen Sports haven't gone the same route as CloudBet who now block sports bettors from the United States. If you are not going to accept gamblers from the USA then why even call yourself a bitcoin sportsbook. Just start accepting PayPal if you are going to run from every legal threat.