How do you compare and review casinos?
When we review casinos we look into things like what games are available at the casino, what currencies it accepts, how easy or difficult it to play mobile and also if the casino has a good reputation amongst gamblers.
Some of the stuff we look into when we write our casino reviews and gather our best Bitcoin casinos list is obvious. For example, nobody would enjoy a casino with boring games, so we look into what kind of slots and other games you can enjoy at a casino. Also, it’s 2023, so it’s realistic to expect the casino to work perfectly on your laptop, phone and tablet.
On the other hand, some of the stuff that goes into the reviews is a lot less fun than just playing the casino’s slot machines. For example, one crucial aspect of the review process is to check what kind of a reputation a casino has. We do this by asking around (we know many high-rolling BTC gamblers) and by reading popular forums like Reddit and Bitcointalk. Trust is key; you’d never want to play at a casino that has a reputation of not paying out winnings, for example.
We also look into the small-but-important details most gamblers ignore. These include reading through the casino’s bonus terms and conditions, reading through its deposit and payout policy and so forth. This stuff is NOT fun to wade through, but it’s vital to check it. Fair bonus terms and a fair payout policy (for example, how quickly big wins of 20+ BTC are paid) mean a much more enjoyable gambling experience.
Together, these and additional factors result in the 1-5 star rating we give each casino. In reality, you’ll be unlikely to see a bad casino review on Gamble.io. The reason for not seeing that many negative reviews is that there are so many great gambling sites on the web, that there’s no reason to waste time reviewing an obviously bad casino that nobody cares about.
Is playing at a Bitcoin casino anonymous?
It can be. Choose the right casino, and it’ll only need to know two things: your email address and that you’re over 18 years old.
When you enter a Bitcoin-powered online casino that Gamble.io recommends (our reviews only cover casinos that provide a high level of privacy), you need to provide just two things: an email address and age verification.
The email address is for keeping track of your account. Keeping track means stuff like being able to play across devices (your phone, tablet, and computer). You also need a working email address for resetting your password if you ever happen to forget it. For maximum security and privacy, create a gambling-only account at any free email service like Gmail or Proton Mail.
The age verification usually asks your birth date. You can enter anything; nobody ever checks this information. Just remember what you chose, some casinos ask for the birthday if you try to reset your password.
Note that to access certain games you may need to provide additional information. This extra step is because larger casino software manufacturers are still hesitant to let bitcoin players play their games, so they want the same amount of personal details from fiat and BTC players. It’s highly unlikely that anyone will ever check any of this info though, so you might take a chance and enter whatever you want.
Note also that you can further enhance your privacy by using a VPN (virtual private network). Using a VPN is sometimes a requirement if you happen to be in a country that actively blocks casinos and other gambling websites. Countries where VPN come in handy include Russia, Italy, France, Spain, and others. Furthermore, players from places like the USA, China, South Korea and Australia often use VPN for a higher level of anonymity.
Which casino games can I play in BTC?
All of them. BTC-accepting casinos have come a long way from the early days, and now in 2023 you can play all gambling games.
Online gamblers love casino games of all kinds: Roulette, Blackjack, Slot machines, Poker, baccarat, video poker and so on.
You can play all these games at any of our trusted & recommended Bitcoin casinos. Our reviews of each casino break down further what games you can find at each casino site, but there are rarely any surprises: all popular casino games are available at every casino. Casinos are in the business of making money, so they want to provide great games that result in happy customers.
The specialty of Bitcoin casinos is, of course, cryptocurrency dice games. For whatever reason, maybe because of their provably fair nature (you can check yourself that the game is indeed random as promised), no gambling game is more loved among bitcoin enthusiasts than rolling the dice.
If you want to read more, we have a whole section dedicated to BTC dice games. But we can guarantee you can roll the bones at every single cryptocurrency-only casino that has ever existed. The only exception to this rule are casinos like BitStarz, which also cater to the fiat-crowd.
What kind of a casino bonus can I get?
Bitcoin players are treated to better-than-normal casino bonuses. You can get free spins and deposit bonuses up to 1 BTC and even more.
Casinos love Bitcoin-using players because it’s a lot less hassle for them to accept BTC compared to credit card or debit card payments. For you, this means that the casinos and betting sites are more than happy to entice you with big bonuses to get you playing for real money.
Typical Bitcoin bonuses hand you free spins and a deposit bonus. You might get anything from 10 to 500 free spins to a great slot machine. On top of that, you’ll receive a money bonus: an average bonus matches your first deposit up to 1 BTC. As you can see from the bonus table at the top of the page, some operators dish out even 5 BTC worth of extra to play with.
If you want to find out more, we’ve written a detailed Bitcoin bonus guide. See the Bitcoin bonus guide to find out how to get more free bitcoins on your gambling account.
Are the casinos instant-play, or do I need an app or special software?
Bitcoin casinos are always instant play. You do not need to download any software or app.
When online casinos first started, it was normal that you needed to download and install software to play. These days are long gone, nowadays you just go to a casino website and start playing.
In fact, if a casino does asks you to install any software on your computer, stay away!
The only casinos nowadays that require you to install anything on your computer run the old Microgaming casino software. These casinos are rare, and to our knowledge, no bitcoin-casino operator runs on the old download-only software. So any gambling site that asks you to install something is highly likely to be a scam. No casino on our casino comparison or recommended casinos list will ask you to install anything.
On a mobile device, phone or a tablet, apps can sometimes be useful, but even then they’re usually not needed. See the section on mobile casinos for more information.
Can I play at a casino with a mobile device (phone, tablet) and do I need to download an app?
You can play with a phone and a tablet at all the casinos we have reviewed. Downloading an app is optional.
Online casinos operate on an instant-play principle; they want you to get to the games as soon as you land on a casino. This instant action means that even with a mobile device all the gambling takes place at the casino’s website.
Some casinos do have apps though. Downloading and installing an app is never required. The option for downloading is purely for convenience, as some players just prefer to have everything on their phone in the form of an app.
Also worth noting is that based on where you live, downloading an app might not even be possible. Google (Google Play) and Apple (iTunes / App Store) limit the availability of real-money gambling apps to a handful of countries. If you don’t happen to live in one of these countries, the apps are not available, and you can play by heading to the casino on Safari (iPhone, iPad) or Chrome (Android).
If you can’t or don’t want to download an app, you can add the casino to your home screen for extra convenience.
- ANDROID: Go the casino with Chrome. Tap the menu button and then tap “Add to homescreen”.
- iPHONE / iPAD: Go to the casino with Safari. Tap the button that has an arrow pointing out of a box. Tap “Add to homescreen”.
What software do Bitcoin casinos have?
Bitcoin casinos run all the major types casino software: Netent, Microgaming, Betsoft, and others. There are important differences between the softwares when it comes to your anonymity.
Long gone are the days when casinos ran one software per casino. Nowadays the bigger casinos, and this includes cryptocurrency-accepting casinos, have games from all the major slots and casino game developers. At a decent casino, you can play games from more than a dozen developers.
For Bitcoin-based players, there are important differences between different casino softwares. The differences deal with levels of anonymity. Typically the bigger a casino software provider is, the more strict it is about rules, laws, and regulations.
You may notice at a casino that before playing certain games, the casino asks for you personal information (address, name). These questions are a requirement by the company that made the game, not the casino.
If you want to a high level of privacy, the solution is to avoid games by big-name providers like NetEnt and Evolution Gaming. This way you won’t need to provide any personal data.
To play Rich Wilde and Book of Dead, you need to fill out a form before you can access the game as it is a Play’n Go game. If you don’t want to fill in extra forms, you should choose other games. There are plenty to go around.
I’m from the USA, can I play at Bitcoin casinos?
Yes. Certain casinos accept US-based Bitcoin gamblers.
Most of the casinos we review and place at our best Bitcoin casinos list don’t accept USA-based players. The casinos choose to exclude US players because the gambling laws in the states are murky, to say the least, with cryptocurrencies adding yet another level of complexity.
You can still gamble at some high-quality online casinos though. They consider it legal to accept bets from the USA, which is not a crazy point of view considering that even the WTO (World Trade Organization) stated that it’s perfectly ok for Antigua-based gambling companies to take real-money bets from the USA.
I’m from Australia, can I play at Bitcoin casinos?
Yes, but not at all of them.
Surprisingly enough Australia is one of only two countries in the world whose punters aren’t welcome at every online casino (the other one is the USA).
Surprisingly enough, the reason for not accepting Aussie gamblers isn’t due to Australia’s gambling laws. Based on (very reliable) rumors we’ve heard, many major casinos we reviewed here are operated by Australian citizens. They want to play it extra safe by not accepting wagers from their fellow countrymen.
Most BTC-casinos do still take Aussie players, so not all hope is lost. To get your Bitcoin pokies fix, choose a casino from the top of this page. The list is automatically updated based on your location only to show you casinos where you can play for real money.
How does casino gaming appear on the blockchain?
Individual bets or slot spins do NOT appear on the blockchain. Your money goes somewhere, and another bitcoin address later gets funds from somewhere, that’s it.
When you enter a Bitcoin casino and choose to deposit, you’ll see an address for depositing. Put in money here, and the blockchain tracking ends. From now on the casino keeps tracks of your funds. The gambling in itself happens off-chain, so that your bets aren’t tracked individually on the blockchain. This makes the gambling instant, as you don’t have to wait for block confirmations to receive money from individual bets, spins on slots, or roll of the dice.
Later when you withdraw, you can take your cash out to any Bitcoin address. Use a new one for maximum privacy. When you choose to cash out, your bitcoins return on the blockchain.
The result of all this is that one account put in money somewhere. Another one got bitcoin from somewhere. No gambling is ever visible anywhere.
How do I withdraw the bitcoins I’ve earned?
Go to the cashier and choose to cash out. It’s that easy when you play with BTC.
When you play with bitcoins, you can cash out at any time. Go to the casino’s cashier, choose to cash out, and the funds are on your account in no time.
Cashing out like this is way different from playing in old-school currencies. Cashing out something like euros or dollars requires all kinds of annoying and time-consuming ID verifications (necessary for checking that somebody didn’t play with a stolen credit card, for example).
As per usual, you can (and should!) create a unique Bitcoin address for accepting the funds you’re withdrawing from the casino. There are absolutely no limits on this from the casino’s end, so a good privacy measure is to receive the funds to a new address.
The only exception to the easy withdrawals is if you have accepted a deposit bonus. In that case, you need to make sure you’ve cleared the bonus (by wagering a certain amount of money) before cashing out. For super-easy gambling you can say no to any bonuses, casinos like FortuneJack let you do this when depositing.
Can I deposit with a credit card?
Some casinos have a system, where you can use your credit card (or debit card) to buy bitcoins, which then appear on your casino account.
You might wonder what the advantage of this is over depositing EUR or USD with a credit card. The advantage is that the purchase of bitcoins is between you and a 3rd party bitcoin vendor, so the casino still doesn’t know who you are. As a big-time, useful bonus the casino also doesn’t require ID checks and other annoyances that credit card depositors need to go through.
Are the Bitcoin casinos legal?
Yes. They have a remote gambling license from a jurisdiction where gambling in Bitcoin is legal.
Bitcoin casinos have gambling licenses from jurisdictions like Curaçao or Antigua where neither gambling nor cryptocurrencies are frowned upon. These licenses give them the legal right to take bets, pay out winnings and so forth.
Some cryptocurrency casinos do unfortunately operate without a valid license. We’d never recommend such a casino on this review page, as playing at one would be highly unsafe.
While the remote gambling licenses aren’t always super strict, they still protect us, the players, and make certain games are fair and that the casinos are liquid enough to pay out winnings.
We’re still expecting Malta Gaming Authority to apply their regulations on Bitcoin casinos. Malta is the number one destination for traditional online casinos who work in fiat currencies, but MGA has been a slow mover when it comes to cryptocurrency gambling. We’re expecting MGA to address Bitcoin gambling in the first half of 2018, allowing even better protection for cryptocurrency gamblers in the future.
Can I play live dealer games?
Yes you can. Roulette, Blackjack, and Baccarat are the most popular live games.
Live games, which you play at a real-life casino via a video stream, are still a new thing at online casinos. While you can play slots anywhere, live games are only available at the biggest bitcoin casinos.
For live gaming, like playing live roulette with croupier or live blackjack with a dealer, I recommend Bitcasino or Fortune Jack. These two casinos have a huge range of live games.
Note that some live-game providers require some information before you can access the live games. Don’t be surprised if choosing to play a live dealer game results in you needing a fill a short form that asks for personal data like your name and address. Fill in whatever you like, at least I do, and nobody has ever checked the information.
Can I play at a casino in Litecoin, Dogecoin or other cryptocurrencies?
Yes you can. See below for my recommendation for each cryptocurrency.
New bitcoin casinos tend to be top-quality operations with online games from major game developers. Unfortunately, many of these new casinos only take bitcoin and not any other coin-currency.
If you wish to play in a non-BTC altcoin, you still can though. You just need to know where each currency is available. Either check the list at the top of this page or see my recommendations right here:
To get a list of casinos for non-BTC cryptocurrencies check out our currency specific pages:
What’s the best Bitcoin casino site for 2023?
It’s got to be mBitcasino.
mBitcasino is set to have a big 2022. Not only do they accept Bitcoin, but they also take in Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Oh, and fiat, but who uses fiat in gambling these days?
We introduced mBitcasino as a new Bitcoin casino early in January 2018, as it passed all our tests with flying colors. The selection of games was excellent, the trust score was off the charts, and they brought a brilliant bonus on the table. The bonus comes with very attainable wagering requirements, and you can stay anonymous while gambling with the bonus.
It’s a great all-around casino with a dedicated section for high rollers, and they also offer sports betting. They’ve even got my personal favourite slot machine Rich Wilde and Book of Dead. Bitcoin casinos don’t really offer Play’n Go slots, so getting to play Book of Dead is a huge plus. You can read more about the multi-currency casino in our mBitcasino review.
