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TL;DR: get a BTC wallet, earn some crypto, find a match you would like to bet on, and send the bitcoins to the gambling site’s BTC wallet.
We are in the year 2018 (in case you didn’t notice…duh) and many things have changed since we survived the supposed end of the world in 2000. MANY, many things in fact. For those who are just turning 18 years old, you may not have noticed enough (obviously, when everybody else was panicking around and turning into Christians praying to a God they were despising minutes before, you probably were swimming around in your father’s right testicle, or watching from within the ovum how the rest of your siblings disintegrated in the losers’ pool).
But for the rest of us, we have seen a lot of things have changed. The Internet is faster, Google is a monster, memes began to take over the world, the Mayan calendar reached its end and we’re still alive, Obama became president of the United States, Kim Jong-Un became Kim Jong-Un, Disney Cancer expanded to the Star Wars franchise (and we’re still alive). Jihadists are bombing taking over the world, Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn Jenner, Russia, China, Venezuela, the feminists, the Illuminati, the Indian ads, the Vatican, Pew Die Pie, Markiplier, Mat Pat, Elon Musk, esportsbetting.ninja, and basically every YouTube channel are trying to take over the world…And we’re still alive.
But, you know who, or what is succeeding in such monumental task? CRYPTOCURRENCIES! Just a few years ago, they were nothing but a bunch of ones and zeros trying to redefine the basics of the global financial system in a secluded corner of the deep web, serving as a way for illegal businesses (unintentionally).
But now, they’re showing their faces everywhere. Unless you have zero access to the internet and live locked in your room with little to no communication with the outside world, chances are, you have at least heard of Bitcoin. In the (very rare) case you haven’t, then let me explain as briefly as possible.
Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain technology… Da Fuq?
There’s a lot of history behind all of this stuff I’ve just mentioned, but I will try my best to make it as short as possible, so we can go with the main subject of this article.
It all started in 2008, when a random guy/girl/hermaphrodite/group going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, created the world’s first cryptocurrency: Bitcoin (BTC), a digital coin that runs on a modified Distributed Ledger Technology – DLT, also known as blockchain technology.
Its purpose is to become a currency free of any government’s control and without the need of any intermediary, such as traditional banks. Also, it seeks to achieve global usage without overseas restrictions, provide a certain degree of anonymity in transactions, and to address current financial system issues like delays in international transfers and such.
By running on blockchain technology, it can guarantee transparency and immutability in each transaction. Blockchain tech is a form of DLT that operates as a public ledger: everyone can check where the money came from, and where it went.
Due to the way it works (which I’m not going to cover here), it needs not an intermediary, so the only guys involved in a transaction are the sender and the recipient, giving them full control over their funds. But of course, this comes with a higher degree of responsibility. Again, due to the way it works, it can’t be altered or modified, so once you have sent bitcoins to another person, you can’t undo the action. If he wasn’t the desired recipient, then you’re screwed up.
Because of this (and a lot of other reasons we can cover any day), Bitcoin has become extremely popular in the last 3 years. Inspired by this boom, many people have also become interested in creating their own cryptocurrencies, resulting in the more than 1,600 virtual coins existing nowadays. Among the most popular are Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Ripple, EOS, and such.
BTC and eSports: the perfect combination
Now that you have a clue or two of what Bitcoin is, it is time to dive into the main subject.
One of the most entertaining ways of earning some Benjamin$ is by betting in eSports. But this is not a recent thing, as you may think. The gambling octopus has had one of its tentacles around video games tournaments for quite some time already. The only difference is that it now offers another way of sucking up your funds… You guessed it! That way is Bitcoin.
So, how do you place a bet with this cryptocurrency? Well, for starters, you need to have a BTC wallet, which is nothing more than a software where your virtual funds are stored in. While there are many wallet providers out there (all of them for free), they all work by the same basics:
– A wallet has an address that changes each time you receive funds. This is for the sake of anonymity, although you could stick to just one address and keep receiving money in there regardless of the change.
– A wallet has private keys. These are YOUR ONLY WAY to recover your wallet should you lose access to it somehow, so be ABSOLUTELY SURE not to share them with anyone or lose them. Each wallet provider will explain you about this in more detail when you are setting it up.
Now, you need to add funds to it. There are several ways to do this. Some of them involve the use of a cryptocurrency exchange, such as Coinbase, Bitfinex, Bittrex, etc (Google them for more info). Or, you can use a Peer-To-Peer platform like LocalBitcoins, where you trade directly with the other person, without any intermediary. You can also trade with a friend that already have bitcoins and need some fiat currency, which is much better.
Whatever the method you choose is, you will have to give that buddy the address of your wallet, which is a bunch of random numbers and letters, starting with either 1 or 3. Once they have it, send the funds in fiat currency (in whichever method you agreed with them), and wait for him to send you the BTCs.
After a while (it could be from 10 to 30 minutes to have your bitcoins available due to the way blockchain works), you can go to your favorite bitcoin-supported, eSports gambling site.
Now, each site has its own way to do things with cryptocurrencies but generally speaking, they have a BTC address where you can deposit funds to bet. All you have to do is copy/paste that address into the send funds option of your BTC wallet, put the amount you want to send, and voilà. Again, wait for the money to be available on that site.
Next, you just have to look for a match you would like to bet on. Select the player, team, ways to win or whatever available option is there, put the BTC amount willing to wager, and hit that bet button. It’s that simple.
What are its pros and cons?
There are many advantages of gambling with cryptocurrencies in eSports. First of all, it is safer than giving the site your credit card data. Besides, you’re not required to verify your identity, so you can play with just your username and nothing more. You don’t run into the risk of getting tracked down thanks to your transactions (unless, in your user’s profile, you put your real personal data).
Second, there is not a double conversion of your money because you’re not using fiat currencies to bet with. So no need to worry if you have Japanese yens, want to bet with US dollars, but the site only takes Euros for gambling. With bitcoin, you don’t need to do all of these unnecessary conversions. Just take your BTCs, send it to the website’s wallet address, and done!
Third, you pay no commission whatsoever to any bank because they’re not taking part in this operation. Awesome, huh?
Fourth, there’s no way the government, or any financial watchdog, can freeze your funds stored in these wallets, so you’re free to do whatever you want with them.
The only few disadvantages I’ve found when gambling with bitcoins are that, because of its volatility, the value of the coins you have could skyrocket or drop drastically, making it unsuitable for those who can bear watching their savings get eaten by this behavior.
Another disadvantage is that there are very few eSports gambling websites willing to accept bitcoins, so your options are pretty much reduced.
Both of these cons will be solved as cryptocurrencies reach mass adoption, stabilizing more its price, and being supported by more people and companies.
And that’s it! If you liked this article, please share it with your friends by clicking the buttons below. See ya!
Good luck!
