Author: buterin

Handling money required that you take caution, as there are many people out there who have no problem taking what does not belong to them. As such, you have to understand how to store your ethers safely. Ethers are the native currency when using ethereum.

For you to protect these coins, you require to have a wallet, and you have many options on this.

The wallet allows you to be in charge of your coins and monitor transactions while purchasing more coins when necessary. This article will take a deep dive into ethereum wallets and your options on this:

The ether wallet

The word wallet may have you confused as to what you might be getting yourself into when investing in crypto. A wallet is much like what you would expect of your online bank account. It allows you to monitor your transactions from the comfort of your phone.

As such, you can send, receive, and keep track of your money. The platform does not control how you spend your money, and this responsibility lies with you.

There are many wallets available, allowing you to have a choice when making a decision. This choice will depend on which features appeal most to you.

For example, with the mobile wallet, you can make your transactions from the comfort of your phone.

For the software wallet, you need to download this on your computer, from where you can use it. And then there’s the hardware wallet, which is a physical option.

The mobile wallet

This wallet comes in the form of an app that you install on your phone, allowing you to keep track of your coins. It is available on the app store as well as the Google Play store. A common question is whether the coins remain in the user’s phone. That is not the case, as the coins are in the blockchain.

The phone only acts as a means to access these coins. Once you create a wallet, you get what is known as a private key, which suffices as proof that you own some coins on the blockchain. There are many mobile wallets available in the app store and the Google Play store, operated by different providers.

You should ensure that you read reviews on such options before investing in them. Otherwise, you can end up with an unreliable wallet or one that exposes your private keys and PIN codes.

The software wallet

You can think of this kind of wallet as a digital bank account where you store your cryptocurrencies. It comes in the form of a program that you need to install on your computer.

Again, the coins are not actually in your computer, but you use your device to access the money in the blockchain. As is the case with mobile wallets, there are many types of software wallets.

For privacy and security reasons, ensure that you download the wallet from the provider’s official website.

Otherwise, you could download compromised software containing malware that hackers can use to gain access to your money. Note that as much as this wallet stores the private keys in the application, you are still vulnerable to losing your money.

Take an example of if someone has access to your computer and get the password right. This information will allow them access to your coins. You should have a backup comprising a recovery seed which should not be stored online or in any digital space.

The hardware wallet

A hardware wallet is physical and is one of the safest ways to store your money. Access to the crypto has encryption from the device, making it better than the two options above.

Take an example of the online wallet. Suppose the website were to get hacked, you will run a risk of losing your money. That is not the case with hardware wallets as they store their information offline.

Also, they come with an extra pin, making it harder for people to access your money even when they have the device.

Obtaining a hardware wallet is as easy as getting it off the website of the manufacturers. Ensure that you go for a trustworthy retailer, lest you get swindled.

BENEFITS OF ETHEREUM (OR CRYPTO AS A WHOLE) GAMBLING

Account registration

While operating a wallet may seem like an uphill task, that is not the case. In most cases, all you have to do is go to the app store or Google Play and find the wallet you want.

Once the app is ready, you can write down your recovery sentence, as this serves as the backup. From here, you should set up a strong password that would be very hard to guess, before adding ethereum.

Finish up by using your receiving address – which is like a bank account number.

Note that you are responsible for your safety when conducting any transactions using any of these wallets. If you do not secure it as needed, you can get hacked. Stay safe!

Before understanding any invention’s future, you have to know how it all started and where it is in the present day. This piece will focus on how ethereum came about while covering a bit about other cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain technology has not been in existence for a long time, and, understandably, people would have some trouble understanding some of these concepts.

Even now, there’s still a shroud of mystery that surrounds this technology.

Blockchain technology came into the scene in 2008 when bitcoin’s release took place. At the time, many people had looked into peer-to-peer networks and decentralization.

These studies had taken place for decades, yet nobody had acted upon this information – until such a time when Bitcoin came into the market. Its introduction proved that these concepts which people had had in mind were functional.

And not only that, but they could also be successful, as many cryptos have proven. One such currency is ethereum, which has transformed transactions in online spaces.

When Vitalik Buterin saw what bitcoin had achieved, he dreamt even bigger, thinking of ways to make this technology even more transformative in the industry. In doing this, he looked at aspects in which bitcoin could have had some improvement.

He found that the approach was that which could work for individual applications. He, however, wanted something that could work for more than just trading currencies.

His vision was that of a neutral and open access infrastructure that would create something in the lines of the Internet of money. His system would not have anyone controlling it, and the power would belong to the users. Vitalik followed through on this by releasing a white paper in 2013.

In this, he outlined what the ethereum blockchain would comprise using the Turing complete programming language. This language allows the programming of any operation in its model.

The language heavily borrowed from Alan Turing who came up with the concept of a universal Turing machine.

Ethereum works based on a gas limit; such that developers cannot run programs that require more gas than this cap rate.

It is important to note that this system is not truly Turing complete given that developers have to observe this gas limit. It might help to read more on this to understand how the model works.

A short history lesson

Let us get into how this crypto came into play:

In November 2013, Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of ethereum, released a white paper. In this release, he explained the system would comprise, describing the smart contracts and the decentralized operation. He also emphasized on autonomous corporations.

In April 2014, another milestone took place, where Gavin wood, another co-founder, took it upon himself to write the C++ compiler. Additionally, he wrote a yellow paper where he described the specifications for the EVM. In July the same year, this crypto went into its first presale.

It raised more than 18.4 million dollars in exchange for 60 million ether. It is important to note that ether is the system’s primary currency.

In July 2015, the system’s test net, known as Frontier, got launched – which was after the release of the white paper and yellow paper. Soon after this, the co-founders released the proposed token specifications, which were introduced to the market as the ERC standard.

A year on in 2016, the co-founders released Homestead, which was the system’s first production-ready version. This development took place in March of 2016.

A few months down the road, the system suffered a significant loss, which you are likely to have come across. DAO, the first decentralized autonomous organization built on this system, became a target for hackers. They made away with 3.6 million ether.

This breach was quite significant and could have affected the whole project. There was a heated debate as to who was accountable for such an outcome.

In October the following year, there was another development in the form of the Byzantium hard fork.

This invention allowed validators to follow up on rewards and fees, thereby confirming transactions on the network. This implementation involved the introduction of proof of stake.

Security is always of importance when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It will thus follow that such a system would have measures to ensure that the operations of the network remain free of prying eyes.

In February 2019, developers introduced the Saint-Petersburg hard fork to remove the EIP 1283 security loophole, which was in Constantinople.

The changes did not stop there, and in May 2019, 6 changes took place to the EVM. Some of these raised controversy, such as the Istanbul V2 version, while others were readily accepted.

The future

Ethereum is not your usual crypto, and its users will admit as much. From its smart contracts to its support of large programs, it has quite a lot to offer you.

Most online casinos now offer crypto as a form of payment, having seen the popularity of these monies. There is no denying that the entry of these currencies has had a positive impact on several industries, including gaming.

Holders of these monies not only enjoy privacy, but they also benefit from fast payments, low transaction fees, generous bonuses, and anonymity.

However, before using ethereum or any other crypto to make a wager, you should be aware of the following likely disadvantages.

Insecurity

This con might seem off given how much people trust the processes involved in the making and distribution of crypto. The decentralization of the system ensures that hackers cannot target a single point in the build.

That works in protecting ethereum as a whole but does not apply to players using ether in online sites. What most people will not tell you is that once you have your coins in a gaming platform, the likelihood of hacking increases.

People can get into your account and take away your money, leaving you with no means of tracing it.

Did you know that it is impossible to trace back crypto? For this reason, many fraudsters and scammers have come up, targeting those who use such currencies to make wagers.

Withdrawal terms

Before registering an account on any online casino, you should go through their withdrawal terms. Many crypto users place bets on sites hoping to make some money and cash out as soon as they can. If they are lucky, they end up making a profit.

The problem comes in when they try to make a withdrawal. It is then that they find that they have not reached the minimum wage requirements. That means that they have to keep playing, hoping that they will be lucky once again if they ever wish to get hold of their earnings.

You can avoid such a situation by being aware of what terms will apply to you when the time comes to make a withdrawal.

Unfair gaming

When joining any site, players hope that they can make the most out of it by enjoying fair gaming. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, especially where crypto is involved.

You find that even casinos with proper licensing may have some scams in place which get in the way of these benefits. It helps to read reviews and understand what you might be getting yourself into by signing up on a given platform.

Value changes

Fiat currency is easy to estimate when it comes to value. This currency tends to be pretty stable such that you can determine what you will get when exchanging $1 for a British pound.

Crypto cannot offer you the certainty, and the situation changes by the day, making this investment more expensive than conventional currencies. You may have placed a given amount on a wager, and by the time you cash out, you have lost money due to a change in the value of the crypto.

It can also go the other way, in that you end up making double the profit you expected. The lack of clarity on what could happen in the future makes the use of crypto best for people who are willing to take a risk.

Legality

The disadvantages that stem from the use of crypto have resulted in many countries not accepting it as a form of payment. That means that you will be transacting in a currency that your country does not recognize.

And this comes with some disadvantages in that you will have a hard time raising this issue if anything were to go wrong. Even currencies such as ethereum, which have been existent for a while, have this issue.

Uncertainty

Not many people understand the working of cryptocurrencies, and this creates some aversion in the market.

For a casino operator, it will not be wise to have crypto as the only form of payment in the current atmosphere. Some people are skeptical as to how it works and would prefer to stick to a traditional means of payment.

You would not want to lose these clients by embracing something for which they might not be ready. The same goes for players. As much as you may want to play using crypto, not many sites offer such an option.

You might have to branch out to those which have traditional payment methods, as much as you might not be for the idea.

No refunds

With other kinds of money, you can go back on your decision and ask for a chargeback or a refund. You cannot do that with crypto as there is no standard policy that can facilitate this. The possibility of losing your money is thus high.

While these disadvantages may discourage you from using crypto, the key lies in understanding that all monies have some downsides.

As long as you choose an online site that is safe and reliable, you should be free of such problems. It thus comes down to you conducting sufficient research before registering an account on any online site.

When cryptocurrencies first came into the market, not many people understood what they entailed. As a result, only a few people, who others saw as risk-takers, invested in these monies. They are now reaping big, as these currencies have more than doubled in value in recent years.

At first, tech-savvy people relied on these currencies to transfer money, aiding the businesses. Over time, it became clear that these currencies could do more than facilitate transactions between individuals.

Casino operators were some of the participants who eagerly joined the cryptocurrency industry. The reasons for doing so were as follows:

Anonymity

If you ask most people why they use cryptocurrencies, they will tell you that they love the anonymity that comes with the transactions. You may have heard of this a lot to the point that you also believe that your transactions will remain anonymous.

The truth is that this thinking is more of a misconception, due to the mystery that surrounds these monies. In essence, every transaction that takes place using these monies undergoes validation by miners.

As such, the transaction leaves a permanent imprint on the Blockchain, which nobody can alter, thanks to the build of the system.

That means that if the governing authority ever wanted to track such payments, it would be possible. And this takes away the notion that cryptocurrencies can provide you with anonymity.

However, given that there is no information as to whether governments have tracked these currencies, you are somehow right. Also, these monies come from decentralized systems and are not subject to governance by a country.

That allows you to set up an account as well as a payment method without having to undergo identity verification.

The upside of this is that you avoid sharing much of your personal information, which will not be the case when using other payment methods that are subject to jurisdiction.

All you need is your email in your wallet address in most of these cases. There lies the anonymity.

Speed

When making wagers, you want to do so fast and easy, allowing you to spend more time on other activities such as maximizing the return on your bet. With cryptocurrencies, there are no regulations that casino operators have to follow regarding identity verification.

You can just set up your account quickly and make deposits as well as withdrawals in a few simple steps. You will find that most sites allow you to cash out faster than your world when using a bank account.

The speed of this process depends on the coin that you were using and its algorithm.

Where a coin takes a long time to get mined, or there are few miners out there, you may have to wait longer. Generally, such a transaction takes about half an hour to complete.

Compare this to the days spent waiting for money from the bank, and you will see that this is a better deal. You can start spending your money almost as soon as you have earned it.

Cost

This benefit is one that most gamers cannot ignore. After all, you do not want to spend hours on end trying to figure out the outcome of a game, only for you to part with a significant amount to pay a third party.

With conventional payment processes, you lose a percentage of your money each time you cash out and pay a considerable amount each time you make a deposit. While most online casinos have worked towards reducing these processing costs, some still charge exorbitant fees.

With ether and other such currencies, you end up paying a minimal fee, thus keeping the lion’s share. Who does not want such a benefit?

Generous bonuses

It’s a consumers market when it comes to gaming as there are many online gaming platforms in the market, with others coming up each day.

The gambling industry is worth billions, and almost everyone wants a taste of this. For these operators to attract players, they have to offer some incentives.

Other than allowing their players to use crypto, they also offer them generous bonuses and promotions, alongside a wide selection of games.

You find that the rewards applicable to people using crypto are more valuable than for those using conventional payments methods. Some even match your deposit to a given amount.

Flexibility

If you live in a country where the governing authority imposes harsh regulations on gaming, it can be quite hard to enjoy placing wagers.

Doing so would induce a lot of fear, which you can avoid by taking advantage of the lack of regulations regarding cryptos.

However, note that in doing this, you will still be breaking the law in online gaming is illegal in your country. While there are yet to be cases of authorities punishing individuals for such crimes, it helps to be careful.

Added advantages include lack of double conversion, the ability to check payment history, wallet security, and the fact that the state cannot freeze your wallet.

Until such a time when governments get involved in this industry, using crypto to make wagers will be one of the best moves for players.

Betting with cryptocurrencies allows you to remain anonymous, save money, and place wagers on site that might not operate in your country.

In this article, we will focus on sites that accept ethereum as a form of payment and why they may be good options.

Finding a site that accepts this currency might not be a walk in the park, given that it is relatively new. However, that is not to say that you cannot find one that suits your needs as follows:

BitStarz

This casino has been in operation since 2014 and has a Curacao license. It has some of the best games you will come across, which have amazing graphics.

You will love that the games are all on full display, and you can play them even before creating an account. This feature is a plus to someone who may not be sure of whether they want to create an account, and would like to test the waters first.

Any site that allows you to do this definitely has a lot to offer you in the long term.

Also, not only does this site have fantastic slot games, but it also features casino table games that you might not find in other sites.

Other than accepting ethereum as a payment option, it also allows you to make a deposit using 12 different payment methods and has nine withdrawal options.

This flexibility allows you to keep playing, regardless of where you source your money. It helps to note that this site also offers a ton of bonuses and promotions to its users.

Sportsbet.io

Anyone who plays using cryptocurrency is likely to have heard of this safe and secure site, which allows you to bet on all your preferred sporting events.

While this site is fairly new in the market, it has fast risen in popularity, not only due to its variety in sporting events, but also diversity regarding deposit and withdrawal methods.

You can rely on this site to accept your ether coins, allowing you to play in major tournaments such as the NBA, MLB, and E-sport events.

You can also play in other markets such as men’s tennis, basketball, soccer, women’s tennis, baseball, and cricket. Even events that take place seasonally or after a few years are in play in this site.

This site has a full license out of Curacao, and you can thus rely on its safety and authenticity, which are essential aspects when handling any money. This sportsbook allows you to not only deposit, make wagers and withdrawals, using ether.

Thanks to this anonymity, you can place bets on games on sites that your governing authority does not allow. The icing on the cake is the abundance of promotions and bonuses on the site for both new and regular customers.

Cloudbet

Anyone who wants a large selection in sporting events should consider this site, which covers all major sports like football and soccer. Interestingly, this site is also home to sports that you would otherwise not find in other markets.

Two examples of these include Pesapallo and floorball. Have you ever heard of this? If you’re not trying to find a new sporting event, you can rely on the existing selection. As you do so, you can enjoy the ease of navigation in the site’s intuitive interface.

The casino has a lot to offer its users, boasting of more than 40 slots, 28 video poker games, 22 table games, and 15 jackpot slots.

You can also participate in live dealer games, which add to the diversity of this site. Deposit and withdrawal options will not disappoint you, as there is a variety in this, allowing you to deposit ether and make withdrawals of the same.

Did you know that is a 100% deposit bonus for new players? The terms of this offer are such that the site will match your initial deposit to a given amount.

Mbit

This international casino, while medium in size, has quite a lot to offer its users. For one, it has a good selection of games, allowing you to bet on your favorite sporting events in one place.

There’s also the added advantage of having a live deal again as well as live chat support. It makes you feel like you are in an actual casino, adding to the thrill of placing wagers. Also, the site supports quite several cryptocurrencies, including ethereum.

Secondly, there’s a huge bonus awaiting new users, of which you may want to take advantage.

The above sites are but a few of the options available to ether users. Other options include 1xBit, KingBit casino, Thunderpick, and Bitcasino.io.

As long as you pay attention to the security of the site and the variety of games, you should be fine. It also helps to look into the odds and the costs of playing, when making this decision. Happy wagering!