Which is the Best Payment Method for Gamblers?
PayPal is one of the oldest payment methods accepted by online casinos. It’s fast, easy, convenient, and widely available, so it ticked many boxes for many years. But these days, an increasing number of players are turning to cryptocurrencies, with digital coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum finding their way onto more and more sites.
So, how do these two methods compare? What are the pros and cons, and which one works best for you?
PayPal vs Crypto: The Key Features
PayPal is an online payment provider often described as a web wallet. You can keep money in your PayPal account and use it to fund gambling accounts with a few clicks. When you withdraw, simply return those funds to your PayPal account and use them as you see fit (withdrawing to a bank account, spending, making more deposits, etc.).
Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies built off a secure and somewhat anonymous blockchain. You keep them in a digital wallet and use secure keys to access the wallet and distribute the funds. They are two very different methods, but they provide many of the same benefits when using them at online casinos.
Ease of Getting Started and Depositing: PayPal
It only takes a couple of minutes to create a PayPal account. You’ll need some personal information and will be guided through a few secure verification processes. From there, you just need to add a bank account or bank card to the account. You can add funds to PayPal using one of these payment options, but as long as the method is verified, you won’t need to. The money will be taken directly from your card or bank account.
Getting started with cryptocurrencies is a little more complicated, especially for people with little experience of digital currencies. You need a wallet for your chosen crypto, and this entails keeping secure codes and making sure the wallet itself is secure. You must then transfer crypto to the wallet using a unique ID. You can buy these currencies via cryptocurrency exchanges, and they often require the same verification procedures as PayPal.
Depositing using both methods is easy and fast. Once you get the initial setup out of the way, it shouldn’t take more than a minute or so to fund your casino account.
Accessibility: PayPal
There are hundreds of excellent casinos that accept PayPal as seen on https://www.casinotopsonline.com/paypal-casinos. This method has been embraced by some of the biggest operators in the world. Cryptocurrencies are less common on the whole, as some regulators don’t look too kindly on the anonymity elements and believe that it can be used to skip essential know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
How easy it is for you to find a suitable casino will largely depend on where you are in the world, but on the whole, there are more regulated PayPal casinos than crypto ones.
Speed: Tie
Both PayPal and cryptocurrencies are fast. In fact, if there are no pending statuses and other delays, you should get your money within a couple of minutes. Instant withdrawals are far from uncommon these days, though. Most payment methods process cashouts in less than 24 hours, as systems are much faster and more efficient than they were in the past.
Security: PayPal
Both PayPal and cryptocurrencies are secure, but PayPal arguably gets the nod. If you lose your crypto wallet, you will lose all of the funds within. That could happen simply by losing your computer or hard drive where the crypto is stored, especially if you placed your key somewhere they can see.
You could also lose the funds in your PayPal account, of course. It could be hacked or accessed by unauthorised users. But with 2-factor authentication protecting your PayPal account and standard bank security checks supporting the cards you have attached, the risks are low.
Verification and Anonymity: Cryptocurrency
One of the big selling points of cryptocurrency in the early days is that they were anonymous. That’s not entirely true, as transactions on the blockchain can be monitored, and if someone is paying close attention to those transactions, they could connect the funds with the user.
However, cryptocurrencies don’t require the same strict verification processes as PayPal, and the user’s name isn’t automatically attached to their igaming account like it is with PayPal. It means that verification is often quicker, and in some cases, it is skipped entirely. Bear in mind that this isn’t true for all jurisdictions, as many demand that operators like Stake.com to follow strict procedures and understand exactly who their customers are, where they live, how old they are, and even whether they can afford to wager the money they’re wagering.
Bankrolling: Tie
Every serious gambler needs a bankroll. It’s an amount used exclusively for gambling. Set a monthly budget, use it to wager at casinos, and don’t exceed that budget unless it’s with your winnings.
Both PayPal and cryptocurrencies are helpful when creating and maintaining a bankroll. Simply decide on an amount and then load it into your crypto wallet or PayPal account at the start of the month. You can then use the money to deposit at as many casinos as you want, knowing that you’ll be operating within your predetermined budget.
If you win, return those funds to your account and keep going. If you lose, stay true to your bankroll and don’t deposit any more until the following month.
Currency Volatility: PayPal
We won’t get too deep into the fiat vs crypto debate here. Some argue that cryptos are highly volatile and risky, others insist they are a valuable investment and will increase in the long run. The only thing that matters in the context of depositing at an online casino is that the money you put into PayPal this month will be worth the same amount next month, while the money you drop on crypto now could be worth much less—or more—in a matter of days.
It complicates things when you’re trying to create a bankroll, and if you’re not familiar with crypto investing and are purely looking for a fast and free payment method, you probably don’t want that extra risk.
Extra Features: PayPal
Some cryptocurrencies come loaded with all kinds of fun features, including the ability to stake, which lets you earn interest on your funds. Most of them, however, are just standard transactional tokens. You buy them from an exchange and then use them to purchase goods and services.
PayPal is a different story entirely, though. It’s much more than a simple online wallet that you can use to fund casino accounts. Although you can’t use it for gambling purposes, PayPal has a credit option where you can take out a small line of credit and use it to buy things online. There is also something known as PayPal Working Capital for business accounts. Users are offered a large sum based on how much money their account has earned. They then take a percentage of every incoming payment to steadily repay the loan.
Rather than interest, Working Capital charges a single flat fee at the point of release, and the only stipulation is that you repay a specific percentage of the amount every 90 days.
It’s also very easy to find your transaction history on PayPal, which is handy if you like to keep track of how much you’re spending.
Summary: PayPal or Cryptocurrencies at Online Casinos?
PayPal and cryptocurrencies are justifiably two of the most popular payment methods at online casinos. They both have their own benefits, and the one that works best for you will depend on how familiar you are with these methods, what kind of past experiences you’ve had, and where you live.
Keep the above in mind to find the most suitable payment option, and remember that you can use both of them if you want. There’s nothing to stop you from dabbling with both PayPal and cryptocurrencies and seeing which one you prefer.
