In case you are not aware, bitcoin is about to receive a massive upgrade shortly that will allow for instant and free transactions. Gone will be the days when you have to wait hours for your transaction to confirm in a block and you will no longer have to worry about whether you attached a big enough fee or not. This will be possible thanks to a new payment layer called the "Lightning Network" that is currently being rolled out. I know that some VPN's and the Bitrefill top-up services already accept Lightning payments but I'm wondering if any bookmakers offer Lightning Network deposits or withdrawals yet?
CoinGaming Group, which are one of the largest crypto gambling operators, are currently testing Lightning Network.
My guess is that most of the offshore sportsbooks like Bovada and 5Dimes are using the same crypto payment processors, so once the payment processors add Lightning Network compatibility then all of the offshore bookies will accept LN transactions at the same time.
there isn't even an lightning network wallet yet for iphone so i think it is a little early to be adding support for lightning transactions. when there are 2 or 3 lightning wallets for both android and iphone, then i think we will start to see casinos and bookmakers adopt the technology.
The Zap wallet should be available in the iTunes App Store soon, according to its developer. It will even allow you to send invoices and make lightning payments via iMessage.
i think we are still a year away from any gambling sites adding support for lightning payments. there isn't even an iOS app yet. if you want to use lightning at the moment you need to install a full node which the average gambler is not going to do.
Development of the Lightning Network has been going slower than I hoped. I think we are at least a year away from bookmakers allowing their customers to deposit and withdraw with Lightning payments.
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I've been playing a lot with various Lightning Network wallets and while it's great, I'm not sure it's ready for prime time at the moment. I think it will require another year of development before exchanges and sportsbooks can use it safely.
At the moment you can't backup your Lightning Network channels so if you lose your phone or computer then your money is likely gone. Until this problem is solved, I can't see many mainstream gambling sites accepting LN payments.
Bitcoin fees are starting to rise again. It will likely cost a few dollars to make a transaction onchain very soon so I think bitcoin sportsbooks will soon have no choice but to accept Lightning Network transactions.
Sportsbooks have been pretty slow at adopting the Lightning Network but thankfully some exchanges like Kraken now allow you to quickly deposit and withdraw using the Lightning Network.