Cryptocurrency and gambling have been joined at the hip for years. Online poker rooms were among the first to embrace Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency’s infancy and several Bitcoin-only poker rooms cropped up as a result, particularly when the industry was in flux in the United States. Now, crypto casinos are among the most popular on the internet and are widely featured on live-streaming platforms.
On Friday, Bitline, a company that facilitates conversions from cryptocurrency to casino chips, announced a partnership with Choctaw Casinos & Resorts. Bitline will collaborate with Everi to allow Choctaw Casino patrons to buy chips and cash out using crypto.
“Designed from the ground up to exceed the rigorous compliance demands of the industry as well as the discerning expectations of gaming VIPs around the world, Choctaw’s patrons are now no longer limited to the access, times, amount, and speed constraints of the legacy financial systems,” said Victor Newsom, SVP Product Management, Payments Solutions at Everi. “This also significantly reduces risk for our casino customers, such as Choctaw.”
According to Bitline, its system “is able to efficiently board, screen and verify patrons looking to leverage their digital assets whilst also allowing patrons to move screened assets into custody within minutes.”
Create account, take QR code to cage
Choctaw Durant was the first casino to benefit from Bitline’s product rollout last Friday. According to the casino’s website, visitors can sign up on Bitline’s website and “in just minutes” transfer Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, or Circle to a digital wallet to use at the casino.
Funds can be transferred to and from a Bitline wallet at any time. When a customer creates a “transaction” with the casino from their Bitline wallet, the casino sends a secure QR code to their Bitline account. That QR code can then be shown at the casino cage in exchange for a playing voucher.
Casino patrons can conduct Bitline transactions of up to $1 million.
Though other locations may be better known, Choctaw Durant is a key casino for poker. It is featured three times on the World Series of Poker Circuit schedule this season. It kicked off the season last July, welcomed the tour back in the fall, and then again this January.
Choctaw Durant has also been a stop on the World Poker Tour for a decade, minus a couple-year hiatus about halfway through. The next WPT Choctaw Championship will take place May 1-5.
The casino’s website does not specify anything about Bitline’s new crypto service and poker, but one would assume that it would be available for poker players.