Esports and Bitcoin is a match made in heaven. They share a demographic that is characterized by an audience that is technically savvy, capable and are interested in using new technologies.
The majority of esports fans are born in an era where instant gratification is the name of the game and where their favorite sports like Dota 2, League of Legends and CounterStrike: Global Offensive are available to watch at the click of a button. This is true of Bitcoin users as well. Bitcoin has made transacting simple, secure, fast and also at the click of a button.
Competitive gaming is now a multi-billion dollar industry and is largely driven by digital transactions and – increasingly – by the blockchain. This page is dedicated to those esports betting sites that have adopted and blaze a trail for Bitcoin gamblers.
Bitcoin Esports Betting
With the rapid growth of both Bitcoin and esports betting, there are more and more sites becoming available that offer both; bringing the two together for one of the best online gaming experiences ever.
As esports betting has grown, sites have refined their offering with a wide variety of top gaming titles like CS:GO and League of Legends as well as smaller and lesser known names such as Rocket League and Hearthstone. At the same time, many esports sites has fully embraced Bitcoin as their preferred method of payment. Increasingly esports betting sites are now embracing crypto as a whole (not just Bitcoin) and will happily accept cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and a host of others.
While their may be dozens of Bitcoin esports bookmakers, the question is how to choose the best one and what qualities make it the best.
Without a doubt the most attractive feature of any esports bookie is the quality and variety of the betting markets available, especially when it comes to the big three: League of Legends, Dota 2 and CS:GO. For example LoL hosts the World Championships (Worlds), which has now had more than 10 seasons with a vibrant betting market. Other esports like CS:GO’s Boston or Katowice Majors are also a huge draw for esports betting fans. These tournaments are now a massive feature in esports calendars around the world with as many as 24 teams participating, millions of viewers spectating and broadcasts running across mainstream TV. Dota 2’s The International World Championship would be another major draw card for esports lovers that enjoy betting Bitcoin. TI, as it’s referred to, has offered prize pools in excess of $25 million and attract big bets from pros and amateurs alike. The International was first hosted in 2011 and has gone on to become one of the mainstays in esports.
For lesser known titles like StarCraft, Hearthstone and Rocket League, esports enthusiasts would need to look to more niche bookmakers that focus exclusively on the esports market. Fortunately for hardcore esports fans, these bookmakers are not hard to come by and in fact, most of our top rated Bitcoin esports sites will put on markets for these lower tiered games.
When it comes to depositing in a bookmaker, the best esports sites will also offer speedy withdrawals too. It is worth looking at the betting site’s deposit and withdrawal section in the terms and conditions to see whether it meets the bettor’s needs. Bitcoin also comes with the benefit of anonymity should it be required – keep an eye out for the anonymous icon </i; when looking at a bookmaker’s review!
Moving to the platform itself, a good Bitcoin bookmaker will offer its players a series of features that cater specifically towards esports fans. One such feature are match streams that run alongside the betting markets, allowing players to stick in one place and place bets in real time as things unfold. Furthermore, a number of platforms have levelled-up their bookmaker experience by offering “exotics” – markets with outcomes that aren’t the standard match winner or most kills. These exotics include markets such as pistol round winner or first Roshan in Dota 2 – certainly riskier bets but can add a lot of fun to the experience. Lastly there are also unique features on some of the best sites like “Streamer Betting” and “Virtual Esports” betting which have been created – and are now being popularized – by the esports pioneer, Unikrn.
When looking for the ultimate Bitcoin esports betting site, besides betting markets, another big draw card are the bonuses on offer. There are a variety of possible bonuses that can enhance the betting experience. These bonuses are discussed in more detail further below.