Actually, they really don’t.
But it’s still a good trick, and it can boost your bottom line significantly.
To wit: Cryptocurrency is already well-established as the top choice for most bettors who want to maximize their bankrolls.
Bitcoin deposits and altcoin deposits are quick, come with no added fees (aside from their native blockchain fees), and allow for same-day payouts.
But just as there’s a rhyme and reason for what sports you bet on, when you bet on them, and how much you risk, you’d be doing yourself a disservice as a gambler not to look at your cryptocurrency banking options in the same light.
Not all cryptos are created equal, and while the best sportsbooks take a selection of coins, you need to weigh the pros and cons of each option.
Generally, that means that you should primarily use the coin you already hodl (if you’re an established hodler), or you should pick the coin that offers you the best investment potential if you’re new to the fold.
If you’re only interested in betting with crypto (rather than also betting on crypto), the asset you select should be the coin that offers the quickest transfer times and lowest native fees.
You can see these differences in detail at our online bet funding comparison page, but the long and short of it is this:
For betting purposes alone, you should go with Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), or Stellar (XLM).
Bitcoin deposits take 30-60 minutes to clear, as do Ethereum deposits, and both also have the highest native fees.
You can also use something like USD Coin (USDC), but stablecoins are guaranteed to lock you out of any potential gains your coin might accrue while it’s stored in your online betting account.
That’s the first part.
Secondly, you need to time your crypto buy-ins and deposits such that you get the most bang for your buck.
Again, this doesn’t apply to bettors who simply want to use cryptocurrency to fund their wagers and nothing more.
But given that most gamblers are gamblers, it’s a fair assumption that even if your intent is bet funding full-stop, you’ll eventually start looking at ways to maximize your potential returns using crypto itself.
To facilitate this, you first need to buy your crypto of choice from an online exchange when the price of the asset is at or below its recent average.
That said, there’s no need to make things difficult and dive too deeply into your research.
Check the weekly trends and go back a month, then pull the trigger when the coin’s value is as stated.
This is good advice for any crypto buyer, as it keeps folks from waiting too long to jump in while also ensuring that they don’t feel like they spent too much getting in too soon.
You can wait forever to buy crypto, or you can just go ahead and buy the stuff.
The latter approach is better.
After you’ve gotten your hands on some crypto coinage, you need to deposit it at your online sportsbook before you can gamble.
But you also need to time this properly and deposit when your crypto is trending lower than usual.
Those who wish to convert their crypto to USD for betting can skip this step (and everything else on this page, frankly).
But if you want to take full advantage of the benefits of using alternative currencies for online gambling, you should keep your coins credited to your account as such.
For example, if you deposit Bitcoin into your Bovada account, you can keep this credited as mBTC (milliBitcoin) or USD.
If you keep it as mBTC, your sportsbook bankroll will rise and fall with the current Bitcoin price.
Given BTC’s upward historical trend, keeping it in your account this way means it’s likely to appreciate.
When BTC goes up, your bankroll goes up.
A $100 deposit can easily become $110, $120, $150, or even $200+ without ever laying a wager down.
If you convert your BTC to USD, of course, you get no such advantage, and you’re locked in at $100 no matter what happens to the price of Bitcoin.
This is ideal if you foresee a near-term drop in Bitcoin value, but it’s more likely to spike than plummet.
So, when should you claim your payouts?
Again, if you’re pulling out in crypto, you’ll want to do that when the coin is trending low.
You get more coin for your equivalent dollar amount this way, which means you get more value when said coin appreciates after the fact.
TL;DR: Buy low, deposit low, withdraw low.
Are you down with that?
