Nov. 10, 2021 Update: For all you lawyer types out there, Coinify is a third-party platform that has no official association with online sports betting. Coinify does not endorse this site or advocate any form of gambling (though they’d probably be okay with it if you took a flyer on any of the crypto coins they sell).
Earlier, we told you about BetUS and its Coinify plugin.
And it’s a big deal.
But after some more digging, there’s an even bigger deal afoot:
You can use Coinify with any legal sports betting site!
To be clear, none of the other major operators we recommend actually advertise Coinify on their cashier pages.
But just like you can use Zelle-to-Bitcoin deposits as sportsbooks whether or not a given site actually lists this as a deposit option – and just as you can make Bitcoin sportsbook deposits using Cash App at any site we recommend – you can use Coinify at any venue more or less the same way you use it at BetUS.
That’s because Coinify isn’t strictly a B2B service.
And while its primary utility is in allowing online vendors to give their customers an easy way to acquire cryptocurrency to make payments to said vendors (as BetUS has done), it also works as a general crypto access point for individuals.
Users can sign up at MyCoinify.com to get started, and account registration and verification takes only five minutes or so.
This is actually the biggest selling point for Coinify, because it lets those who have never purchased crypto before get started without having to go through the usual rigmarole of enrolling with major exchanges.
Services like Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, Binance US, Bittrex, Kraken, etc., are all robust and secure crypto exchanges, but they each make new users wait 5-10 days before they can send their crypto off-platform.
This waiting period – much of which comes from the fact that their KYC user verification procedures take so long – is a total nonstarter for sports bettors. (Kind of like Jameis Winston’s going to be in a few more weeks. – Ed.)
If you want to bet Bitcoin on tonight’s NFL game or risk some Litecoin bets on this weekend’s college football odds, the only way you can do that is if you’ve already got your BTC, LTC, etc. ready to trade.
For first-timers, that’s never the case.
And it’s what keeps so many of them from taking the initial crypto plunge.
If you aren’t already set up to send and receive crypto at the major exchanges, you’re going to make a credit card deposit instead.
You won’t get the best bonuses and you may have to deal with occasional UIGEA headaches, but at least you’ll be able to lay down your actual bet in time.
So you’ll just deal with crypto next time.
And then the time after that.
Ad infinitum.
That’s the real benefit of Coinify: There is no waiting.
Of course, since Coinify isn’t a typical exchange, there are actually some things you’ll need to take care of first.
Before you even join Coinify, for example, you’ll need to download a crypto wallet for the coin or coins you intend to purchase.
Coinify does not offer a crypto wallet platform. Instead, they simply send your crypto directly to your private wallet address.
For sports bettors, we generally recommend mobile crypto wallets such as Atomic, Exodus, and Guarda.
These work on any smartphone via native apps, and they’re very convenient for making rapid sportsbook deposits and receiving instant online gambling payouts.
They’re all free, too, so simply pick the one that has the interface and features you like best.
Once that’s done, you can go ahead and sign up at Coinify and get ready to buy some coins.
But again, Coinify does things a bit differently.
While big exchanges ask you to link a bank account, Coinify allows you to simply use any existing credit or debit card to purchase your crypto.
Easy peasy.
Once you’ve found the coin you want and pay for it with your card, it’ll be delivered to your unique crypto wallet address, and you can then make typical crypto deposits – and get all the benefits of crypto betting – at your legal sportsbook site of choice.
That said, there are some restrictions to be aware of, too.
Remember, Coinify is fast and easy, but it’s not for everyone.
The first thing to be aware of is that Coinify charges more for its various cryptos than their actual market prices.
As an example, the following are the average market prices for the four most common cryptocurrency gambling options, with their current Coinify prices in parentheses:
- Bitcoin – $43,258.65 ($44,629.01)
- Bitcoin Cash – $498.33 ($518.77)
- Litecoin – $152.06 ($158.25)
- Ethereum – $2992.03 ($3091.71)
Note: The minimum USD purchase price for any crypto bought through Coinify is roughly $70, which is a bit higher than your sportsbook’s minimum deposit amount.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Coinify has a very limited selection of supported crypto coins.
While the service offers access to every crypto used by the betting sites we recommend (with the exception of Ripple), it doesn’t actually offer a whole lot more than that.
Right now, Coinify supports just 20 popular cryptocurrencies for individual buyers:
- Binance Coin
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Bitcoin SV*
- Celsius
- Chainlink
- Compound
- Dogecoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Maker
- Nano
- OKB
- Polkadot
- Polygon
- Qtum
- Stellar
- Tether
- Uniswap
- USD Coin
*Bitcoin SV is only accepted by Bovada Sportsbook, and players must “unlock” the option by accumulating Bovada Rewards points.
The last thing to be aware of is that not all US residents can actually use Coinify.
This is, of course, the biggest drawback of the service.
As of 2021, those living in the following 17 US states cannot currently use the Coinify crypto platform:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Washington
For everyone else, Coinify is a viable option.
Despite its premiums (which online sports bettors can more than make up for by accepting enhanced crypto deposit bonuses), if you haven’t taken the plunge on cryptocurrency yet, Coinify is the fastest way to get started.
