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Does the price level of BTC have a substantial effect when people try to bet Bitcoin? This year, 2020, has seen the price of BTC touch both an all-time high and a very low level. Would services such as BTC sports be affected?
Yes.
Let’s find out how they were affected and how you can deal with that.
Why Do People Use BTC to Place Sports Bets?
To understand how the price of BTC might affect sports betting, you need to understand why people use BTC in the first place. If you keep up with solid Bitcoin news than you might already know this, but in case you need a refresher, here it is:
Placing sports bets with BTC allows for the following advantages:
1. Faster transfer times than standard fiat.
With BTC, you don’t need to wait days for your money to deposit or withdraw. The transactions confirm in minutes and after anywhere from an hour to two, you should have your money ready to use for either betting or using after withdrawing.
2. Lower fees than standard fiat.
Fees for sending your BTC or receiving it might cost less than those you would need to pay if you’re transferring fiat to sports betting sites located out of your local country.
3. Partly anonymous
If you use your BTC correctly, and you chose one of the exchanges on the list in the link at the top, then you might be able to bet anonymously using BTC properly.
All-time High Prices May Disrupt the Advantages.
One of the advantages listed above (lower fees than standard fiat) can be disrupted by Bitcoin price gains. And this might be happening for the next few years.
Business Insider quotes a tweet from Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, when he says
“the token's potential to unseat gold as a store of value means its price could reach 25 times $19,000. "No other liquid asset in the universe can credibly offer this magnitude of asymmetric payoff in the next decade.”
Why would price gains disrupt Sports betting with BTC?
Because when the price of BTC rises, so do the transfer fees.
BTC miners charge more for each transaction to process Bitcoin. This means that the price to transfer your winnings out of the sports betting site or to transfer into the site for playing, would rise and potentially go higher than standard fiat prices.
At that point, you would need to consider whether or not the other advantages of using BTC (pseudo-anonymity, fast transfer times) might still be worth the price increase or not.
Bitcoin Blockchain Tech is Working to Increase Advantages
Nevertheless, even though the increase in BTC’s price may increase fees, there are workaround and solutions already in place.
The Lightning Network
One of the current solutions to high fees is the Lightning Network. This network enables people to transfer even small amounts of BTC at low fees. It’s fast, safe, and comes with reduced costs.
You’ll need to check if your preferred sports betting set uses this network, and if it does, then it’ll save you time and money.
Another way to look at it is the fact that if you are winning on your sports betting site in BTC, then the value of your winnings is increasing in value right alongside your holdings. So the increase in price should help mitigate the increase in transfer costs.
Of course, if you’re not winning, and you don’t want to put a further strain on your BTC holdings at the site, then you might want to consider withdrawing your Bitcoin holdings while fees are relatively inexpensive.
At the end of the day, it’s worth keeping an eye on the price of your BTC holdings and making a plan to withdraw them either before fees rise or perhaps wait until fees go back down again.
If you do decide to wait, then make sure to pick a sports betting site you feel safe with, one that is secure to keep holding your hard-won Bitcoin. Make sure they have cold storage wallets and a good track record of security.
Best of luck betting and remember to keep your eye on the price and the prize.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.