USA Bitcoin Sportsbooks Guide: Crypto-Friendly American Bookies

Last updated February 5th, 2023

Most of the best USA sportsbooks are now accepting Bitcoin (BTC). Some also welcome Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XML) cryptocurrency transactions. If you need an online bookie that accepts deposits and payouts in BTC then USA Betting highly recommends these offshore sports betting companies that serve American customers:

  1. Bovada Sportsbook
  2. BetOnline Sportsbook
  3. EveryGame
  4. MyBookie Sportsbook
  5. Bookmaker.eu
  6. SportsBetting.ag
  7. WagerWeb Sportsbook

There are some distinct advantages to players, and the American-focused Bitcoin sportsbooks, in funding your account with the cryptocurrency:

  • At Bovada you can hold your betting account in Bitcoin currency. So you can actually bet in the crypto. This saves any exchange costs of swapping BTC for USD and you won’t get hit by BTC volatility while it is in USD, because it doesn’t need to be in US dollars. You get the option of holding your account in dollars or crypto on sign-up.
  • There are almost no fees involved for player or sportsbook when receiving funds. It is best to allow a small amount for a transaction fee when sending to ensure the transaction takes place speedily. This goes to the Bitcoin miner and it is small enough as to be insignificant, a matter of cents in most cases. The real point is that there is no fee paid to the sportsbook.
  • That is because there is no intermediary bank. Bitcoin can be sent direct to a sportsbook from your exchange account or Bitcoin wallet, which can be located on your mobile or PC. USA Betting advises using your own private wallet, such as electrum (ensure you download it from https://electrum.org and not any other similar site), rather than transacting direct with sportsbooks to or from an exchange. This is to increase anonymity and privacy. It also avoids probing questions from the BTC exchange as some have a low tolerance to USA gambling.
  • The fact there are no banks involved circumvents some of the American laws in relation to banks not being allowed to handle betting transactions. As Bitcoin doesn’t go near a bank, that issue for players and more particularly sportsbooks is neatly sidestepped. You can see why the best betting sites are embracing Bitcoin and crypto in a big way.
  • Speed: Transactions across the world, including internationally, happen within minutes. The first confirmation is usually within 10 mins from sending. Some firms will wait for six confirmations before crediting your account, so that could take longer.
  • Bitcoin allows the sender to remain totally anonymous. However some sportsbooks do still generally require your personal details on your betting account, though that is always confidential. At USA Betting we would be very wary if the betting was entirely anonymous. If you stick to the sportsbooks we recommend you will be fine as they are known to be trusted. There are firms springing up solely accepting Bitcoin as a payment method and nothing else. It is too early to vouch for the honesty and credibility of any of those companies.
  • There can be no chargebacks. A Bitcoin transaction is final with no way of complaining to a bank that it was fraudulent or unfair. This may also count as a disadvantage in some circumstances.
  • Credit card transactions to offshore sportsbooks can often fail. With Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and other crypto currencies there are no failed transactions.

One point to consider if you plan to convert your bitcoin back to US dollars is that this cryptocurrency has a history of volatility against the traditional currencies. In recent years one Bitcoin has been as high in value as $64,800 and as low as $4000. Don’t worry you can still buy something small like a coffee with Bitcoin because the currency divides down as low as one “sat,” which is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin. So a sat is 0.00000001 BTC. To put it another way: 1BTC = 100,000,000 sats. This unit is called a sat because the mysterious creator of Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto. Nobody knows who he, she or they are. Satoshi Nakamoto has disappeared off the radar and holds around 1.1million Bitcoin that have never been moved.

You can pre-load certain debit cards using crypto and that will enable you to spend them wherever credit cards are accepted.

We suggest that you use an exchange account only to buy or sell BTC. Once you have bought, send them to your own personal wallet. That way if the exchange is ever compromised, and it has happened before, then you are safe in the knowledge that they do not hold any of your funds. It also obfuscates your transactions, so the exchange can’t see where you are sending the transactions to or receiving them from.

So when dealing with the USA Bitcoin sportsbooks our advice is that you send funds from and into your own personal wallet on your PC or smartphone. As mentioned, electrum is a good one to get to know. You do need to ensure you follow the backup instructions so if the device your wallet is on gets lost or stolen then you still have access to your funds. Keep the wallet ‘seed’ safe, private and off-site.

  • To find out more about the cryptocurrency Bitcoin read this informative website: Bitcoin.org.

How Bitcoin Works At The Major American Sportsbooks

Bovada Accepts BitcoinBovada encourages the use of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, ensuring the transactions are fast and free. They also offer large bonuses for BTC users in both casino and sportsbook. This is how it works:

  • You have the option of one of two account currencies: USD or Bitcoin. That’s right, you can deposit and bet in that crypto currency. There is no need to swap Bitcoin to USD for the purposes of wagering – you can place all your bets in BTC. This handy scenario means you don’t get hit by exchange rates when swapping USD for Bitcoin and so you also don’t get hit by any volatility in the BTC price. There is no need to involve a US dollars transaction at any stage. You are prompted to choose between the USD and Bitcoin account currency when you register. It takes between one and fifteen minutes for the deposit to be live and ready to bet with at their online sportsbook, casino or poker.
  • Withdrawing by BTC is just as quick. It takes 15 minutes to arrive back at the Bitcoin address you provide.
  • There are no transaction fees for depositing or withdrawing by BTC.
  • You can get a $3750 bonus in the casino (25 X rollover requirement) when depositing by Crypto or up to $750 (5 X rollover) in the sportsbook. Be aware of the rollover requirements. You need to opt in with the relevant bonus codes and remember you don’t need to take a bonus. More details on the Bovada bonuses are here. Delaware, Maryland, Nevada & New Jersey are the restricted states.

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BetOnline takes BTCBetOnline is another very established online bookmaker that accepts Bitcoin. Interestingly, they have good range of cryptocurrencies that you can both deposit and withdraw. These are: BTC, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple and Stellar. They reckon deposits take ‘a few minutes’ to a maximum of two hours. Withdrawals are up to 48 hours but are ‘usually within an hour.’ There are no fees involved. Minimum withdrawal is $20 worth of crypto and maximum is $25000 at a time. There are dedicated crypto bonuses as well: 100% bonus up to $1000 worth of crypto (14 x rollover; Promo code: CRYPTO100). Also, 35% bonus on reloads (ie: any subsequent deposits) and this has 8 X rollover requirement and the promo code to use is CRYPTO35 when making your deposit in the cashier. Do read the terms and conditions first if you plan to take advantage of these offers.
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EveryGame BitcoinEveryGame accepts deposits in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The process is very similar to that used by Bovada above. EveryGame makes it very easy to deposit and payout via their cashier system and they walk you through it. This is another great sportsbook and casino location for Americans to use, though remember that the restricted states are: New York, Maryland, Washington, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Kentucky. It takes up to 10 minutes for the crypto transaction to go through.
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MyBookieMyBookie is not as big a name as the firms listed above. They are trying to catch up and are getting there. If it is essential that you do your transactions in crypto, then MyBookie allows Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum deposits but only BTC withdrawals. There are no fees. They are slower than other sites to action these payouts – up to two business days, which is poor compared to their rivals, some of whom are almost instant. Bettors using crypto can opt into a deposit bonus of 100% up to $1000 (use CRYPTO100 bonus code) with a minimum deposit of only $20. This crypto offer can be claimed on your first 3 x deposits and has a 10 x rollover requirement. MyBookie has these restricted US states: New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York.
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Bookmaker free betsBookmaker is another sportsbook to actively encourage Bitcoin use. A couple of other advantages of this site is that there are no restricted U.S states and they have a reputation for accepting large wagers. Their reputation among bettors, over very many years, is excellent. Bitcoin takes 10 to 30 minutes to be credited to your betting account – they wait for the standard six confirmations on the blockchain. Actually, in our experience, that could take longer than half an hour. They will uniquely refund fees an exchange may have charged you for buying Bitcoin. Bookmaker itself of course charges no fee. While the only crypto currency you can deposit is BTC, Bookmaker does allow payouts in a number of cryptos. As well as BTC, these include Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum.
Visit Bookmaker ➙

Beyond Sportsbooks, Why Else Has Bitcoin Gained in Popularity?

This page has explored the advantages of using BTC for your transactions and wagering at the American-facing sports betting sites. Those benefits include many of the reasons that this cryptocurrency has become so popular in the wider world. In this section we list additional reasons, more general and less specific to the gambling world, why Bitcoin adoption is growing:

  • This crypto may be an escape from the risks of your own fiat currency. Fiat is government-issued currency, such as the US dollar. If you live in a country with hyperinflation or rules prohibiting the transfer of wealth, BTC may provide a safe holding for part of your portfolio. Many believe the major fiat currencies such as USD, EUR or GBP are at risk of severe devaluation and hyperinflation. After all, the printing presses have been running 24/7 conjuring up new fiat out of thin air. Quantitative Easing by central banks, like the Federal Reserve, can only make your existing fiat worth less. History is littered with stories of inflation gone rampant as economies crumble. It is happening in parts of the world right now. Inflation destroys the value of your fiat currency. Many believe Bitcoin provides a worthwhile hedge against this scenario. Why can’t this happen to Bitcoin too? There will only ever be 21 million BTC. Supply is capped and will never be increased. This offers safety and protection from devaluation and encourages an increase in value against fiat. In summary of this point, BTC may provide protection from local economic or political woes.
  • Bitcoin has become a store of value. It has been called ‘digital gold’. Obviously it is more lightweight than gold and anyone can store it in a wallet without the practical difficulties and costs that keeping, and then selling, gold imparts. It is also much easier to conceal.
  • BTC is predominantly untouchable by governments. They can ban it, restrict it or legislate against it, but they simply can’t stop it.
  • The more popular it becomes, the more people want to use it. This is because the volume of liquidity is high. The price will change but if you want to sell, there is always a willing buyer. It is not a thin investment market, there is plenty of action and the participants are growing in number all the time.

So while you might be shying away from getting to grips with it, and you feel the Bitcoin sportsbooks are almost forcing you into adopting a new currency that you would rather not deal with, this situation might be doing you a favor. Do not think that you have “missed the boat” in the crypto world. It was created in 2009 and, despite recent surges, it is arguably still quite embryonic. The push that betting with Bitcoin gives you to become familiar with this digital currency might help with your wider investments. That is certainly our opinion, but obviously nobody can know the future of decentralized finance or anything else. Even if you are dubious, all knowledge of the subject is valuable because crypto is not going away.