Bitcoin Forum

Some Bitcoin casinos are barring IP's from the USA while others say:
Bitcoin casinos are legal regardless of online gambling laws  (Source = "available on request")

I know that years ago it was a grey area, and now....?
Has the USA made a clear legal ruling on gambling with BTC?
// Sorry if this is a duplicate thread.

Well i dont know about USA but i can tell you what happens in spain, bitcoin was pronounced a digital good in spain and not money, you can also legally have a bitcoin casino but with the previous review of the site by "Comision Nacional del Juego" wich is the entity in charge of such things

I would be inclined to say the exact opposite!  Almost all bitcoin casinos are illegal and would be shut down down regulators, if they find them and have the will to either audit them or even look into them.

Just-Dice got shut down from having a bitcoin dice game and they are one of the big boys, I would assume most/all pop up casinos are unregulated.

"Unregulated" is fine as long as they have (and maintain) a good reputation.
"Illegal" is still a question (?), since Bitcoin is not "real money".

re: Just-dice
Just Dice Closes Due to Canadian Bitcoin Regulations
http://bitcoin-dice-guide.com/just-dice-closes-due-to-canadian-bitcoin-regulations/

They were concerned about MSB issues and not specifically current gambling laws.


Edit:
"Almost all bitcoin casinos are illegal"
Do you have a solid source for the current laws in the USA?

Bitcoin Casinos would be illegal in most of the US. The sites aren't hosted in the US though. It's illegal for US residents to gamble through them but I haven't heard of anyone being prosecuted.

they don't prosecute gamblers but they might harass the casinos whenever they are if they are too popular in USA, so I guess it is the reason for the restriction applied to US players

Even if they were illegal the government would have no way to track you so they couldn't do anything to you.

Yeah, I remember most of US states ban online gamble, but btc may not belong to cash/money, so it is in grey area.

If US citizens use proxy or VPN to gamble on those sites which ban US citizens, they can also play, and withdrawal doesn't need ID or utility bills to verify, btc gamble is cool and convenient.  ;D

Yeah i saw some bitcoin casino can't be accessed by US player (or more precisely US ip). So i think bitcoin casino is illegal in US. Never heard a bitcoin casino is regulated by US Gambling commission before, neither bitcoin casino pay taxes too.
And many bitcoin casino is hosted outside USA, to avoid this case maybe?

I looked it up, you're good. It's a legal gray area.

For South Korea, I'm sure almost all kind of gambling is illegal (including BTC), but not sure about USA.

i think if they were legal regarless than doog woulda kept JD open for btc gambling. so theres gotta be restrictions in other countries as well as canada would be my opinion

But with JD what really happened was issues about the investments not the casino itself  if im not mistaken

I see some casino's operating in countries or islands where the laws and tax is legal or a bit more acceptable.

Some operations moved away from the USA and are also "restricting" users from specific countries from using their sites, to bypass any legal difficulties.

So yes... it's a grey area and these operations use tactics to bypass some legislation to enable them to still operate.

The regulation and control becomes a problem and also the requirements to act on people with gambling addiction. The physical licensing is also a problem. {This pose the question : If you are a operator/owner of a casino in say one of these islands, but still a citizen of another country, where it is not legal, are you still required to abide by the laws of your country of origin?}

It can become a legal battle and tax will always be a issue.

i was pretty sure doog shut it down due to change in canadian laws. i could be wrong though

In the gambling law of most countries, gambling is generally described as risking something of wealth in a game of chance. Since you can sell bitcoins for fiat money, they are something of wealth, so there is absolutely no difference between gambling with dollars and gambling with bitcoins. You will always need licensing(expection in some countries: micro-stakes <1$). If the US would make a "clear legal ruling on gambling with BTC" they would also have to make a clear legal ruling on gambling with any other good. Generally, gambling with bitcoins are regulated by the general gambling law and can be treated the same as gambling with fiat. This also makes 90% of all successfull bitcoin-gambling-sites illegal due to lack of licensing(and taxes ;P ).

As i know bitcoin gambling is illegal. But untill now no government rules about bitcoin gambling. And still many country not acknowledged bitcoin.