CoinBet has launched a new online casino in the U.S. that allows players to use the virtual currency Bitcoins to make bets and transactions. Company officials said they feel the use of Bitcoins gets around U.S. bans on online gaming.
“Look, to take away a person’s fundamental right to spend their money on whatever they choose is wrong, unconstitutional, and without question, an un-American thing to do,” said John Bauer, a senior V.P. of Gaming at CoinBet to PR Newswire. “But we are not here to engage in a legal debate, we are here to serve up the very first legitimate workaround to the complex online gambling laws in this U.S. market. We are returning to Americans their freedom to choose and giving them their power back.”
Bauer said that since Bitcoins are not actual currency—though they are bought and sold with real currency—their use does not violate the U.S. anti-fraud Wire Act which is the basis for interstate and international online gaming being illegal in the U.S.
It will be interesting to see if the U.S. Department of Justice—which shut down most international online gambling sites accepting U.S. wagers in 2011—will agree.
Meanwhile, Malta-registered online casino Vera&John has become the first licensed casino to accept Bitcoins.
The site has begun taking deposits from customers and automatically converting them to Euros which would then be paid into customers’ accounts on the site. Customers making Bitcoin deposits made at Vera&John will only be able to withdraw those deposits in Bitcoin.
The site does not accept bets from the U.S.
