Betting With Cryptocurrency

How it works in practice

Depositing with cryptocurrency usually involves sending funds from a personal wallet to an address provided by the operator, with the amount converted to the account currency (e.g. reais or euros) at the exchange rate at the time of deposit.

Price volatility between deposit and withdrawal is the main additional risk compared with traditional methods.

Withdrawals typically work in reverse: the operator converts the account currency balance back into the chosen cryptocurrency at the current exchange rate, then sends it to a wallet address the customer provides, rather than to a bank account or card the way a traditional withdrawal would.

Which cryptocurrencies are typically accepted

Bitcoin is by far the most widely accepted cryptocurrency among operators offering this option, usually followed by Ethereum and by stablecoins — cryptocurrencies designed to hold a stable value, typically pegged to the US dollar. Stablecoins exist specifically to ease the volatility problem discussed further down, since their value isn't meant to swing the way Bitcoin's or Ethereum's does.

The exact list of accepted cryptocurrencies varies significantly from operator to operator, and not every licensed operator offers this option at all — it's always worth checking directly in each platform's payments area for the current list of available options, rather than assuming a specific cryptocurrency is universally accepted just because another operator accepts it.

Wallets and addresses: how the deposit works

A crypto wallet is essentially the software (or physical device, in the case of hardware wallets) that stores the keys needed to move funds on a specific blockchain. To deposit, the operator generates a unique address, usually a long alphanumeric string or an equivalent QR code, and the customer sends the intended amount from that address using their own wallet.

Unlike a traditional bank transfer, a cryptocurrency transaction sent to the wrong address, or on the wrong network (for example, sending a token over the wrong network when several networks support the same token), is usually irreversible — there's no central bank able to cancel or correct the transaction once it's confirmed on the blockchain. Carefully confirming the address and network before sending any amount is, as a result, a responsibility that falls entirely on the sender.

Automatic conversion to account currency

Most operators accepting cryptocurrency don't keep the customer's balance in crypto within the platform itself — the deposited amount is automatically converted to the account currency (reais, euros, or another reference currency the operator uses) as soon as the transaction is confirmed on the blockchain, with the balance showing up in the account already in the usual traditional currency.

This immediate conversion protects both the customer and the operator from prolonged exposure to the cryptocurrency's price volatility while the balance sits on the platform — but it also means the exchange rate used is the one at the exact moment the transaction confirms, not the moment the transfer was initiated, which can create a small gap from the expected value if the price moves during the network's confirmation time.

Volatility: a concrete example of the risk

Imagine depositing the equivalent of £1,000 in Bitcoin, but the transfer takes 40 minutes to confirm on the blockchain due to network congestion, a period during which Bitcoin's price rises 3%. The amount credited to the account, calculated at the exchange rate at the moment of confirmation, will be slightly above £1,000 — a favourable outcome in this specific case, but one that could just as easily have gone the other way if the price had dropped instead of risen.

This risk applies in both directions, deposit and withdrawal, and it's larger the more volatile the cryptocurrencies used are — Bitcoin and Ethereum sometimes move several percentage points in a single day, a much wider swing than traditional fiat currencies see over the same period. For anyone who'd rather avoid this uncertainty altogether, using stablecoins, whose value is designed to stay close to a reference currency, significantly cuts down this specific source of risk.

Network fees and confirmation times

Sending a blockchain transaction usually involves paying a network fee (a 'gas fee,' in the case of networks like Ethereum), paid to whoever processes and confirms transactions on that network — this fee varies with how congested the network is at that moment, ranging from practically negligible during quiet periods to considerably higher during periods of heavy transaction volume competing for the same processing space.

Confirmation time also varies by network and congestion — some networks confirm transactions in seconds, others can take minutes or, in rare cases of heavy congestion, longer than that. Licensed operators typically require a minimum number of blockchain confirmations before crediting a deposit to the account, precisely to protect themselves against the rare risk of a transaction being reversed before it's fully confirmed.

KYC still applies in full

A common misconception is assuming that betting with cryptocurrency somehow bypasses the usual identity-verification requirements at a licensed operator — it doesn't. The same KYC requirements described in the dedicated KYC guide apply in full to accounts using cryptocurrency as a payment method, including confirming identity, age, and, where applicable, source of funds.

Some operators even require additional documentation specific to crypto deposits, such as proof that the wallet used belongs to the account holder themselves, precisely because the pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions makes this confirmation somewhat more complex than confirming ownership of a traditional bank account.

Not every regulated market accepts cryptocurrency

The availability of cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals varies significantly depending on each market's regulatory framework — some regulators allow it without specific restrictions, others impose additional conditions, and some licensed markets may not allow it at all for operators under their jurisdiction, as part of a more cautious approach to less traditional payment methods.

Before assuming the crypto option is available at a licensed operator in a specific market, it's worth checking directly in that platform's payments area, since the range of payment methods on offer always reflects the regulation applicable in that specific market, not a universal pattern valid everywhere the operator happens to be present.

Practical advantages: speed and lower costs

Despite the risks discussed, betting with cryptocurrency offers genuine practical advantages for anyone who already uses this kind of asset regularly: transactions that can confirm faster than a traditional international bank transfer, network fees that, in many cases, come in below the fees traditional payment methods charge for international transfers, and the ability to move funds without depending on a bank's opening hours.

These advantages matter more to someone who already holds cryptocurrency as part of their regular financial activity than to someone who'd consider buying cryptocurrency specifically to bet with — for that second group, the added cost and complexity of acquiring cryptocurrency for the first time tends to outweigh any speed or cost advantage over the traditional payment methods already available.

Security: protecting your own wallet

Responsibility for a crypto wallet's security falls entirely on the user, in a much more direct way than with a traditional bank account — there's no central bank able to reverse a fraudulent transaction or restore lost access to a wallet whose private key has been forgotten or compromised. Storing the private key or recovery seed phrase securely, offline wherever possible, and never sharing it with anyone, is the most basic and most important security practice in this space.

Phishing scams targeting cryptocurrency users specifically are common — from fake wallet apps mimicking legitimate ones, to emails or messages posing as a betting operator urgently requesting wallet details. A legitimate licensed operator never asks for a wallet's private key, only the public address to send a withdrawal to — any request for a private key or recovery phrase is, without exception, a sign of fraud.

Tax implications worth considering

Beyond the tax rules that already apply to betting winnings generally, moving cryptocurrency can involve an additional tax layer in many jurisdictions — the conversion between cryptocurrency and traditional currency itself, or the cryptocurrency's appreciation between the moment it was acquired and the moment it was used, can be treated as a separate taxable event, independent of the outcome of the bets themselves.

Specific tax rules vary significantly by country and change fairly often as tax regulators adjust their framework for digital assets, so this guide isn't a substitute for professional tax advice — it's worth consulting an accountant or tax specialist familiar with cryptocurrency in the relevant market before assuming any specific tax treatment, especially for anyone moving significant amounts on a regular basis.

When it makes sense to bet with crypto

Pulling together the points covered in this guide, betting with cryptocurrency tends to make the most sense for someone who already holds and moves cryptocurrency regularly for other reasons, feels comfortable managing a wallet securely, and knowingly accepts exchange-rate volatility as a feature of the method, not an unpleasant surprise discovered only after the first withdrawal.

For anyone deciding on a payment method for the first time, with no prior relationship with cryptocurrency at all, traditional local payment methods — like Pix in Brazil or MB WAY and Multibanco in Portugal, covered in their own dedicated guides — tend to offer a simpler, more predictable, day-to-day experience overall, without the added layer of exchange-rate volatility and personal wallet-security responsibility that cryptocurrency introduces on top of everything else already involved in betting responsibly. Starting with a familiar, local payment method and only moving to crypto later, once comfortable with how the rest of the account works, is a reasonable, low-pressure way to approach the decision.