The Gambling Commission of the United Kingdom updated their "License conditions and codes of practice" document to include regulation for bitcoin and other crypto currencies. While the Isle of Man Gambling Commission is currently in the process of drawing up guidelines, the UK Gambling Commission is the first major gambling regulator to officially allow their licensees to accept BTC and digital currencies providing the appropriate AML procedures are put in place. UK Gambling Commission licences include major gambling sites like Bet365, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral and many other major brands. Users of these bookmakers, casinos and poker room will soon be able to deposit and withdraw from their accounts using bitcoin. These new regulations come into force on October 31st, 2016.
bitcoin is primarily for the underserved so i can't see this making much of a difference. sports bettors in the uk already have about 20 different ways to easily fund their betting accounts so it's not going to be as quickly adopted there as it is in the united states for example.
Bookmakers in the UK have a habit of banning bettors who win too often. It's easy to do this now because you just block someones credit card. Most people only have 1 or 2 credit cards so it's easy to permanently ban them but they can have an infinite amount of bitcoin wallets to sign-up with with fake names.
Nitrogen Sports withdrew from the UK sports betting market after receiving legal threats from the UK Gambling Commission. Once UKGC approve bitcoin gambling, it will be interesting to see if Nitrogen Sports will apply for a licence from them so that they can reenter legally.
It's looks like the UK Gambling Commissions loosening on bitcoin gambling restrictions is starting to take affect. This week NetBet became the first UK licensed and regulated site to start accepting bitcoin.
i'm surprised that ladbrokes and paddy power haven't already added btc seeing as netbet already have.
Paddy Power and Ladbrokes customers can use PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Visa, Mastercard etc. so right now I think there is very little demand for BTC deposits.
The Malta Gaming Commission have now also stated that they will be embracing crypto currency gambling operators.
if bitcoin and crypto gambling is legal in the united kingdom, then why are nitrogen sports banned? they are probably the most legit and well know bitcoin-only sportsbook on the planet.
Because in order to operate in the UK, you need to get a license from the gaming commission. That comes with a whole ton of regulations that Nitrogen simply can't or don't want to follow.