Do any European or Australian bookmakers accept bitcoin?

Discussion in 'Bitcoin Sports Betting' started by Humble Servant, Jun 9, 2016.

  1. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    While most of the US friendly online sportsbooks like Bovada, 5Dimes and BetOnline now accept the crypto-currency, major UK, Australian, Canadian and European bookies continue to drag their feet. So far we've check all of these online bookmakers and none of them accept BTC. It will be interesting to see how much this changes in the coming year.

    EUROPEAN
    Ladbrokes - No
    William Hill - No
    Paddy Power - No
    Unibet - No
    Coral - No
    Bwin - No
    Bet365 - No
    NetBet - Yes

    AUSTRALIAN
    SportsBet - No
    William Hill Australia - No
    Bet365 Australia - No
    Ladbrokes Australia - No

    Last reviewed and updated on June 9, 2016
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2016
  2. 2damoon

    2damoon Member

    I guess they are worried that they will get associated with drugs dealers and pornographers who seem to make up the bulk of the early adopters.
     
  3. uglymug

    uglymug Member

    i think it has more to do with price fluctuations. why take on the additional risk that the bitcoin price will crash if you don't need to. sportsbooks like betonline and bovada accept bitcoin because they are serving the underserved i.e. gamblers in the united states. sports bettors in the europe and australia can use paypal or their credit cards.
     
  4. Hernia

    Hernia Member

    Online bookmaker have a big problem with credit card chargebacks so I would have thought they'd welcome btc with open arms.
     
  5. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    I can understand the price fluctuation risks if they become their own bitcoin brokers but I don't see why they don't use a third-party service like BitPay. That way they could add bitcoin to their cashier with zero risk and they'd never need to handle any bitcoin.
     
  6. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    The Isle of Man gambling commission is in the process of updating its rules to allow bitcoin banking. Once that happens gambling operators like Paddy Power who are licensed in the Isle of Man will be able to accept bitcoin if they wish to.
     
  7. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    Poker Players and sports bettors in Australia can now buy bitcoin over the counter at their local newsagents in locations across the country. Now that the Australian government has banned in-play betting I would see many Australians switching over to bitcoin sportsbooks.
     
  8. 4TheWin

    4TheWin Member

    I think many fiat bookmakers make a lot of money by charging their players processing fees. If they switch over to btc it will be harder to justify taking a couple of percent every time a player makes a deposit or withdrawal.
     
  9. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    This week SportsBet were reported to the Australian Federal Police because of their click-to-call in-play betting service. If Aussie sports bettors can't wager in-play on the footie then we may see many of them switching to bitcoin bookies.
     
  10. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

  11. uglymug

    uglymug Member

    my guess is sports bettors in the uk will continue to use paypal and credit cards. there is simply still too much friction acquiring bitcoin for the average punter to bother.
     
  12. 4TheWin

    4TheWin Member

    The Australian government have very strict anti-gambling laws because I think there is a high percentage of problem gamblers in Australia. They recently forced all the online bookies to removed in-play betting from their website and apps. Because of this I think they will be very slow to legalize bitcoin gambling because it will be much harder for them to police and regulate.
     
  13. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    The major gambling commissions in the UK, Malta and the Isle of Man have all made statements regarding the future of crypto-currency gambling in their jurisdictions but the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission have been silent. They can't keep their heads buried in the sand forever.
     
  14. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

  15. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    Australia is currently in the process of introducing online gambling legislation that greatly curtains what casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks can do. Any operator that services Australian citizens without a license will now face jail time or a heavy fine.
     
  16. Doyle

    Doyle Member

    Draft Kings and Fan Duel are in the UK now. Do they accept btc?
     
  17. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

    No, not yet. Since they operate from the UK there is nothing stopping them for adding bitcoin in the near future.
     
  18. Doyle

    Doyle Member

    Now that Australia has kicked out regulated poker rooms like PokerStars and PartyPoker, you can be sure that offshore gambling operators are going to have a much stronger presence there.
     
  19. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

  20. Humble Servant

    Humble Servant Active Member Staff Member

Share This Page