Understanding Bitcoin Betting Sites & Exchanges

The use of cryptocurrencies in carrying out financial transactions has gone from being a dream to being a reality. It is an idea that more and more people continue to embrace. The idea of a world where traditional fiat currencies will no longer be needed now looks like a possibility. One of the many things you can now use cryptocurrencies to do is betting. For instance, a lot of Bitcoin betting sites in 2021 are now gaining recognition and acceptance by individuals in the betting community.

This talk about cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and many more in betting brings us to what is known as bitcoin betting exchanges. What are bitcoin betting exchanges? How do they work and what are their advantages? This and many more are some of the things we are trying to discuss here.

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What Are Bitcoin Betting Exchanges?

The first thing that comes to the mind of many people when they hear about betting is sportsbooks. However, there is something new around which a lot of players love and that is the bitcoin betting exchange. It is not such a hard concept to understand. It works just like a sportsbook which means it is also a sports betting site that lets you bet on all kinds of sports using Bitcoin. This gives you a lot more control as a bettor so long you take your time to understand all the basics involved.

While it works almost exactly like a sportsbook, it is still somewhat different because the bettors are competing against themselves. This is unlike what applies in sportsbooks where as a betting individual, you place a wager while the facilitator is the bookmarker.

What Are The Mechanics Of Bitcoin Betting Exchanges?

When we talk about mechanics, what we are trying to say in this context is how bitcoin betting exchanges work and it seems quite straightforward even though it won’t be so if not for the involvement of bitcoin in the process. As a bettor, you will have to create an event and also set the conditions. You will need to put down your wager and other people betting will take you up on your wager.

As much as straightforward this process may seem, you start to think otherwise when you consider the fact that this is happening in the virtual world. Anyway, the use of bitcoin in the entire process makes the process still relatively easy. With bitcoin, it works a lot better as the transactions throughout the world have become fast and straightforward.

The process is easily explained: An event and the conditions attached get set up by the bettor. So, as his wager has been put down, other bettors take him up on the wager. It seems quite simple though it’s done virtually. Whereby it is an international audience, then such is an even bigger audience and the software that powers the exchange ensures the process is seamless. This is even way better when it involves Bitcoin because transactions across the world are now done in an instant.

Backing And Laying

Bitcoin betting exchanges allow for what is known as backing and laying. These are terms that will most likely be new to individuals not familiar with bitcoin betting. Well, these two words “Back” and then “Lay” have easily understandable meanings. When you back, what you are doing is betting that a particular outcome will come to pass. Laying on the other hand means betting that an outcome will not come to pass.

So when you back, you are betting against the layers, and when you lay, you are betting against the backers. The good thing about this whole laying and the backing thing is that the platforms won’t mind if you win, unlike traditional sportsbooks. The outcome of a net does not affect the exchange.

Consider soccer, for instance, you can bet that a particular country will win the world cup by backing them just the same way you would at a sportsbook. However, if you want to bet that the country will not win, then you will lay them. Laying in this sense means all other teams in the competition are playing for you so your bet will win once any other team apart from the specific one you lay on wins.

Laying has started becoming more popular among bitcoin gamblers than sportsbooks. When you win the bet, you keep the stake of the backers but if you lose, you will have to pay out the stake of the backer multiplied by the odds (which is how a sportsbook also works).

Advantages Of Bitcoin Betting Exchanges

Bitcoin betting exchanges come with their advantages and from the description, we have given in the foregoing, these advantages can be easily guessed and they are:

Better Odds

With bitcoin betting exchanges, you get a better commission that is less than sportsbooks.

The Chance To Lay

Laying gives you as a bettor a lot more control and better options

The Concept Of Trading And Hedging

The concept of trading and edging is quite common when it comes to bitcoin betting exchanges. Trading is what happens when you back a selection at a higher price while you lay it at a lower one. Doing this gives you a bigger chance to win irrespective of what happens. It is a smart move that can be likened to buying shares at a low price and selling them at a high price.

However, if you want this to work, certain things need to happen. For one, the odds on the selection will have to come down after you have done the backing. If that does not happen; alternatively, the odds will have to go up after you laid it. Any of the two must happen in order to trade or hedge in bitcoin betting exchanges. The meaning of this is that if the odds go up after you have backed a selection, you won’t be able to trade into assured profit which means you might have to hedge out of the risk.