The big appeal of Litecoin is that you are outside of the jurisdiction of the banks and finance networks. Cryptocurrencies use decentralized networks (the blockchain), rather than ledgers at banks, to keep records. Once blocks are created, they can’t be changed, creating a public record of who owns what coins. This means transactions are permanent and irreversible once tracked.
Litecoin is secure, allowing you to make a deposit without giving out any of your bank details to the poker sites. You have control via the way that coins are sent. To deposit, you’ll collect a ‘receivers Id’ from the poker site, and then log in to your own wallet to initiate the transaction. No wallet information is given to the poker site at any point.
This can be used for withdrawals, as long as you have previously made a deposit using Litecoin.
What are the Drawbacks of Using Litecoin for Poker Deposits?
Volatility of cryptocurrencies does put many people off using them. While there are movements in price, these are not as frequent as many people thing – most days are just a couple of percentage points in either direction. What you need to keep in mind is that you will only be holding Litecoin for a matter of hours in most cases – unless you want to hold more in your wallet. You will buy cryptocurrencies at an exchange, then deposit right away. As soon as you deposit, your site will turn this payment into US dollars. The same is true for withdrawals, which you can move from Litecoin to dollars via an exchange very quickly.
The only other downside involves the one-off setup process. You’ll need to start a Litecoin wallet, and sign up to an exchange. The exchanges do not accept payments which can be reversed (PayPal, Credit Cards for example) to protect the integrity of the system. Bank wires are the most common way to fund your exchange deals.
Step by Step Guide to Making Litecoin Poker Deposits
The first step is to get a Litecoin wallet. There are two types, one is online and the other is on your own hard drive. For smaller transactions, online wallets are plenty secure enough. If you move into the 10’s of thousands, then you can consider the more secure hard wallets.
Several providers can offer wallets, I recommend that you stick with the biggest and best known. Examples include litecoin.org and litevault.net.
Once you have a wallet you will need to sign up at an exchange. This is where you will upload funds from your bank, and receive cryptocurrencies in return. Alternatively, if you know someone with Litecoin, they can send you some wallet to wallet.
Next you need to sign up at BetOnline or SportsBetting Poker. Registering your account will only take a couple of minutes, and you’ll get to take advantage of their generous welcome bonus offers. Head to the cashier next, and hit Litecoin.
The next page asks for the amount you want to deposit, and then gives you a string of numbers and letters and also a QR code. You can use the QR code with mobile wallets. If you use the string of numbers and letters then this is the recipient information you need to trigger the transaction from your wallet application. Choose ‘send Litecoin’, and copy the strong into the receiver field, along with the amount of Litecoin to send. Once you press ‘send’ the transaction will take place very quickly. Your coins will be swapped for dollars at the mid-market rate when your transactions are received. The poker sites are not looking to make a profit on exchange rate spreads, simply offering easy deposit options!
How Does Litecoin Compare to Bitcoin?
Litecoin has been likened to the ‘Silver’ of cryptocurrencies, while Bitcoin is the ‘Gold’. It is clear that Bitcoin is the more popular of the two. More poker sites accept Bitcoin, with only a limited selection accepting Litecoin. From a practical perspective, there is very little to separate the two currencies. If you are looking for a quick and easy way to get money on board with BetOnline or SportsBetting Poker – then Bitcoin and Litecoin make equally good choices.