Bitcoin Forum

What are these sites doing in order to avoid legal trouble? If you live in the US, can you "host" your site in another country to keep in within US law?

Yea it should be I think why not I think tht US have many online casionos but you need a really ig money for that if you want to do that because that is a really big job to do if you really want to do that.

gambling site is want US regulation is very dificult
and bitcoin is still not regulation, so i think is nothing bitcoin gambling site is ready US regulation and legal in USA country
bitcoin is anonymous, gambler want bitcoin gambling site because is anonymous and without verified ID

if bitcoin gambling site use US regulation, i think is not anonymous again, because need verified ID

The gaming server and website is hosted outside the US. If the owner/operator lives within the US, he breach US law, if he accept customers from the US!

Yeah, game-protect is right, you need to host your website outside of the united states. If you're really paranoid, you can even use a VPN to hide your identity when you build /modify your casino.

I think you need to see the rule of law in the US for not prohibit it no problem

So if you live in the US but block US players it would be legal? What if you just put "no US players allowed" on your terms page?

How are these major sportsbooks like nitrogen allowing US players and not being shut down? Just because it is hosted on a server in the UK?

cloudbet is operating out of the US, will they be shut down by the feds sometime once they are noticed? Or are they clear just because they say in their terms that "you cannot bet if you are in a jurisdiction that does not let you blah blah"?

Also, they have a .com domain that can be seized at anytime by US gov cant it?

I think it is and I don't think there is any restrictions to it because there are so many of the online gambling sites operating in the USA.

I would just like to point out the guy who want's tips for giving you info, why not just apply as a consultant for him. LOL. Instead of asking tips, I hate it when people give "free service" where it isn't free because they actually asks for a fixed tip.

Obviously it is not legal. You need license to run a gambling website, and I doubt any of the gambling websites even run it from US. You will very likely be arrested for some kind of money laundering as well. 2 years back, SealswithClubs poker site run by Micon had the same issue, where he was arrested and since then the website is ran from outside the country.

Yes but the charges were for Nevada state laws not federal, right? "violation of the Nevada Revised Statutes NRS 463.750(10b), and the operation of an interactive gaming site without all appropriate licenses as required by State law NRS 463.160(1a)."

And he did 0 jail time or get any charges... right?

I believe he was fined. Even if the charges were in-state, it doesn't mean other states won't be filing charges for running an illegal business, specially when it comes to bitcoin. The site will eventually be facing legal issues in the long run.

there is many hosting provider from outside of US that will help you to host your site and you can start your own bitcoin sportsbook or gambling sites. but before you start your own gambling sites, i think you need to read about the rule from US government about gambling so you don't make any mistake and you can operate the sites with safe.

How about betonline and bodog? There are American citizens' sportsbooks and famous in fiat online gambling industry.

There plenty more because the United States is really one of the biggest producers of gambling casinos and websites. They don't have that strict laws against it. Heck, when I went there the gas stations had slots! So I don't think there is much laws or regulations you have to worry about when you're going to build one.

From what I heard it is illegal to earn casino or gambling site in USA and bitcoin casino is not an exception, so it is better to build your site outside of USA, I think it is safer to do it like that rather than you force yourself to build your casino site secretly and get caught

According to the US laws gambling which is a so called 'game of chance' is illegal and there are certain problems with this term, because things like poker and sport betting are by some considered to be 'games of chance' and others maintain it is rather a game of skill. Anyway, I think hosting your site in another country wouldn't make it legal. Take the pirate bay website, for example, where you can download music, films and other things. I think you can have access to it from the US, because the servers are located in Venezuela or something like this but it doesn't make piracy legal in the US, does it?

Though united states of American has not legalized bitcoin they also has not band it. I think it will not be an offences against united states of American if you establish a site for bitcoin casinos as other related business are doing very well in USA. I believe coinbase is based in USA though there are tax issue with them currently but no one has declared them illegal. Very soon people will see why bitcoin has come to stay.

It seems like no one has a clear answer on this, everyone is saying something different.. There has got to be some accurate guidelines available somewhere....

I wonder if the fact that you're using Bitcoin as a means to gamble changes anything about the law?
Since bitcoin isn't really recognised as a currency, but rather an asset.

Makes me think Bitcoin gambling is still in some kind of grey area, but correct me if I'm wrong.

But the owners/operators do not live in the US and the US authorities can basically only act within the US, because illegal gambling is only a white colour crime. It would be something else if money laundering is involved.


No, there are no guidelines and my info is accurate. You usually would need to pay a lawyer for accurate info, but as I go after criminal gambling operators, I know their structure.

if bitcoin is not properly recognize there in USA, then i don't think that it may be legal to run a bitcoin casino. Although they can accept the bitcoin from gambler as in most of other cases we can see but i think officially it may not be possible. because the casinos have to pay tax on it and government may not accept bitcoin for tax.

Ofcourse, as long as you have permit or license to operate bitcoin casino. You're fine. If you dont have it. Forget about it. They will just charge you for illegal operation of bitcoin casino. Las Vegas is the best place to build a bitcoin casino because its the popular place for gambling.

There are a lot of online casinos that are registered from the United States. Bovada Casino, Planet 7 Casino to name a few. I guess licensing in the U.S. is a little expensive and thats why majority of the casinos opt into registering outside US and operate from there. As far as I know some of the casinos that do have license from outside U.S. are banned in the U.S. So if your aim is to target Americans then you better get licensing there itself.

Based on what I have read from replies what I can gather is that, you can do it, but dont be caught. But that does not make it legal. does it? When it comes to issues like this you cannot expect a free service we give opinions based on experience or what we have heard and then you use that to make a decision but when issues happen, you are left with it. I will only suggest you get opinions of legal experts in matters like this before making a decision you can also write admin of sites already functioning if they will be of help.

Gambling is legal under federal law, but online gambling has various kinds of restrictions. Each state has it's own law. Due to various restrictions, casinos are actually hosted  off shore where online casino regulation isn't very strict. You will notice most of the site states in their ToS that users from US are not allowed to play. This is to avoid any sort of troubles.

Please post the registration number of Bovada Casino in the United States?