Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency available to gamblers and is proving to be a leading force within the crypto community. Ethereum’s currency Ether operates similarly to Bitcoin, however the protocol is completely separate.
How to gamble with Ether
Ethereum allows people to make transactions in the same way a Bitcoin player would. The currency operates on a blockchain with miners who are incentivized through block rewards, and blocks are mined by miners through ‘proof of work’. This all sounds very similar to Bitcoin, and indeed it is, however Ethereum allows players to not only make valuable transactions, but also to perform computational ‘smart contracts’ on the blockchain itself (so-called smart contracts).
For this reason, many players have adopted Ethereum and numerous gambling sites now allow their users to bet with Ether.
Buying Ether for betting
Despite Ether being extremely popular, it is actually not as easy to obtain as Bitcoin. However, players who are familiar with buying Bitcoin will be able to exchange Bitcoin for Ether on several exchange platforms.
Ethereum Wallets
Before you start selling Bitcoin for Ether and visiting gambling sites, you’ll need a wallet to receive your new ETH. The number of Ethereum wallets is growing, however the proven “Mist” wallet developed by the Ethereum Foundation is probably the safest place to start.
As mentioned above, Ether wallets operate very similarly to Bitcoin wallets, however, offering an additional ability to interact, via ‘smart contracts’. Such smart contracts are an extremely new and exciting technology, but for many Ethereum users, this technology is not relevant if their plans are predominantly directed towards just gambling via Ether.
Benefits of Ethereum for gambling
Gambling with Ether is not necessarily “better” than betting with Bitcoin: the properties of the two currencies remain the same, and both share the advantages of being fast, anonymous, and transparent. The downside is that the list of gambling sites for Ether is much more limited compared to the huge number of casinos, poker rooms, and sportsbooks that accept Bitcoin. That said, Ether is becoming increasingly popular, and we anticipate that many more existing cryptocurrencies will turn to this new currency in the future.