Can we still enjoy the anonymity in gambling in the long run?

[MCobian]

Now we can enjoy the anonymity in gambling, because most online gambling doesn't enforce KYC. But in the long run maybe we can no longer
enjoy the anonymity in gambling. Possibilities like exchanges and centralized wallets that impose KYC, online gambling may enforce KYC because
of government requests. This is applied to avoid illegal activities.

[Genemind]

We cannot blame some platforms in requiring KYC because most regulated casinos have to comply with the law or get punished for breaking it. There are some countries where gambling is strictly prohibited, and not to mention age restrictions which is one of the reasons why most are using online casinos.

[maydna]

Now we can enjoy the anonymity in gambling, because most online gambling doesn't enforce KYC. But in the long run maybe we can no longer
enjoy the anonymity in gambling. Possibilities like exchanges and centralized wallets that impose KYC, online gambling may enforce KYC because
of government requests. This is applied to avoid illegal activities.

While we still have time to enjoy the anonymity in gambling, we better use that time to playing gambling games because once the government makes regulation about online crypto gambling, we should follow the rule if we don't want to have a problem.

But personally, I guess the gambling website will search for the hosting website which doesn't have a regulation to fill the KYC or the gambling website will find out the country which gambling is allowed and host their website with the hosting from that country and they will have a license, so their members don't have to fill the KYC. The crypto gambling website gets the money from the gamblers, and if they apply the KYC, their revenue will reduce because crypto gamblers think that their identity is an important thing that they should protect.

[adzino]

Anon gambling sites will still exist despite the AML rules, but the problem is, what kind of games they offer... probably not as developed as mainstream ones. For slots lovers like me, I'll enjoy the very moment, when I can play mainstream slots on sites that still accept no-KYC accounts for small deposits/withdrawals. In the future, if all accounts need KYC, then I'll probably retire from gambling since I live in "gambling is bad" country. However, if I'm lucky and become rich, I'll move to Australia for sure.

Doesn't matter if they offer different kind of games, they still will have to apply KYC policies. As long as financial transaction takes place in company, there must be KYC and AML policies in order not to fall in trouble with your government laws.
Lol, you live in a country where gambling is prohibited. How do you expect to move those move legally from your country to Australia? You government will end up convicting you for laundering money.

[Degens]

Anon gambling sites will still exist despite the AML rules, but the problem is, what kind of games they offer... probably not as developed as mainstream ones. For slots lovers like me, I'll enjoy the very moment, when I can play mainstream slots on sites that still accept no-KYC accounts for small deposits/withdrawals. In the future, if all accounts need KYC, then I'll probably retire from gambling since I live in "gambling is bad" country. However, if I'm lucky and become rich, I'll move to Australia for sure.

Doesn't matter if they offer different kind of games, they still will have to apply KYC policies. As long as financial transaction takes place in company, there must be KYC and AML policies in order not to fall in trouble with your government laws.
Lol, you live in a country where gambling is prohibited. How do you expect to move those move legally from your country to Australia? You government will end up convicting you for laundering money.

Well what about smart contract platforms like Degens where the bets are made directly with the blockchain? Is KYC legally required? It's a grey area when it comes to decentralized applications.

[20kevin20]

I think the OP pertains to the anonymity of one's legal and personal information more specifically a user's submission to a gambling's KYC. Knowing your IP isn't that an "anonymity" killer, but just a vulnerability, and gambling platforms that bypasses its user's security is often red-tagged.

Knowing your real IP without also knowing any other personal information doesn't make you anonymous though, does it?

You're automatically giving up your real IP and an e-mail address you own upon registering; KYC makes it so that you also willingly give up other critical information of yours in order to be accepted on the website (or in order to extend some features of your account).

Just think about it: you use the same IP to register 2 accounts under the same e-mail, out of which one is supposedly "anonymous" and the other is an exchange you've completed KYC on. As soon as the KYC is complete, you literally fully de-anonymize yourself on the former account. Not to mention other fingerprints you leave behind, including but not limited to the way you write, your English skills, your browser fingerprint, your activity (part of which is tracked on a large part of the currently existing websites) etc. If IP wasn't an issue, Tor Browser, Tails, Qubes etc wouldn't exist.

So if we want anonymity, we should start studying this stuff from zero instead of jumping in the misleading "crypto anonymizes your accounts" train. First and foremost, the biggest flaw in this argument is that you literally automatically give up enough information to be identified by a bad actor (incuding the state) when visiting a website.


A good potential solution to all of the above might be launching a crypto gambling website on an Onion link that has no JS requirement and allows Mail2Tor registration. But that would completely kill off the fun as no JS means no more fast-paced gambling. For sports betting however, it might not be a problem - so that could even turn into a combination of JS-required gambling (blackjack, dice etc) and a no-JS part of the website that allows bet placing for sports gambling. Biggest issue here is that only very few are looking for privacy to the extremes, so not sure how successful a such website would really be.

[Kasabus]

I hope so, but it's not in our control as when regulation comes, we have to choice but to follow, or else we will get punished, that's probably the scenario. What we are enjoying now might not last longer, so let's enjoy what we have now, anonymous gambling is still here offering us the service although in reality we are not totally anonymous.

[spike420211]

I hope so, but it's not in our control as when regulation comes, we have to choice but to follow, or else we will get punished, that's probably the scenario. What we are enjoying now might not last longer, so let's enjoy what we have now, anonymous gambling is still here offering us the service although in reality we are not totally anonymous.

To be honest, it's hard to imagine a FULLY regulated crypto market.
I am sure that there will always be countries / zones where the cryptocurrency will remain unregulated by anyone, which means using VPN and other tools you can continue to play at the casino anonymously.

Imagine how much online volume increases on platforms that will continue to provide anonymous games, and how it decreases on those who enter identification.

[Maslate]

I hope so, but it's not in our control as when regulation comes, we have to choice but to follow, or else we will get punished, that's probably the scenario. What we are enjoying now might not last longer, so let's enjoy what we have now, anonymous gambling is still here offering us the service although in reality we are not totally anonymous.

To be honest, it's hard to imagine a FULLY regulated crypto market.
I am sure that there will always be countries / zones where the cryptocurrency will remain unregulated by anyone, which means using VPN and other tools you can continue to play at the casino anonymously.

I don't think it would still be possible if the casino will require a KYC, and they'll know when you are using a VPN as your IP address might conflict with your location to the documents you submitted.

Imagine how much online volume increases on platforms that will continue to provide anonymous games, and how it decreases on those who enter identification.

That's going to be a risk when there is already a regulation, the usual way will not be enjoyed in the future, but of course we are not hoping it will happen, soon or in the future but at least we know this is possible.

[Distinctin]

I think full anonymity will be gone in the long run.

As of now, based on my observation, there are gambling sites that allows you to gamble anonymously based on what country you are living, or course they based it only on IP as that's the only way to verify it, and then if  your IP address says you belong to a country where crypto is regulated, then they could accept you but with KYC, and that alone you will already lose your anonymity when you comply.

If you would look at the other site to gamble, you can but the risk is high as reputable casinos are normally compliant to the law.

[avikz]

I am very much concern with the bolded wordss so I like to ask your opinion on it.
We all know that slowly the crypto casinos are getting regulated as we can't deny it's been growing and gamblers are slowly adopting to it.

What we are enjoy now is an "anonymous gambling" is very satisfying to us, but will it be in danger when the market is fully regulated?

Your thoughts please!

Regulation and anonymity can't go hand in hand! Both have its own pros and cons. Anonymous gambling is especially beneficial for thos where gambling is legally banned. So anonymity factor allows them to gamble even if their country doesn't allows them to do so. So anonymity factor helps increase the business for gambling houses.

On the other hand, regulation brings transparency. In a regulated casino, players can be assured that they are not cheated by the owner. They have a grievance redressal system available.

Personally, I feel anonymity is a very popular factor in gambling. A lot of people don't want to be disclosed as a gambler for various social reasons. But regulation will be here for longer run. The crypto gambling market is growing on a daily basis. So regulation has to come at some point of time in future. Till then, enjoy being anonymous!

[BitcoinTurk]

What we are enjoy now is an "anonymous gambling" is very satisfying to us, but will it be in danger when the market is fully regulated?

To express my personal opinion, I think that anonymity is not fully protected even in today's conditions. I think there will be no anonymity, especially when online casino services are becoming more popular and more popular. As I mentioned, I think that even though there is no regulation today, the services we use do not happen in the future as I think that our identity or other information is not stored anonymously. In addition, we should not forget the fact that this process we are talking about is not very far away.

[bitcoinst]

We cannot blame some platforms in requiring KYC because most regulated casinos have to comply with the law or get punished for breaking it. There are some countries where gambling is strictly prohibited, and not to mention age restrictions which is one of the reasons why most are using online casinos.

Nobody blames them, people just stop playing them. I am convinced that every casino should warn about the introduction of KYC in advance.

Worst of all, when a casino without warning introduces an identification procedure and thereby forces users to disclose their data only in order to withdraw funds.
This is a tricky move that platforms that have financial difficulties often use.

[Ziskinberg]

We cannot blame some platforms in requiring KYC because most regulated casinos have to comply with the law or get punished for breaking it. There are some countries where gambling is strictly prohibited, and not to mention age restrictions which is one of the reasons why most are using online casinos.

Nobody blames them, people just stop playing them. I am convinced that every casino should warn about the introduction of KYC in advance.

I think the current format was when you gamble in FIAT, you comply with the KYC, if its for crypto, it's alright to be anonymous.
There are sites that has that kind of policy, but most of us here will prefer to gamble in crypto alone, so it's really a big inconvenient to us if this would result to a full KYC for fiat and crypto gamblers.

Worst of all, when a casino without warning introduces an identification procedure and thereby forces users to disclose their data only in order to withdraw funds.
This is a tricky move that platforms that have financial difficulties often use.

That's called cheating I guess, unless it's written in the TOS, we can't complain on that.

[Natalim]

What we are enjoy now is an "anonymous gambling" is very satisfying to us, but will it be in danger when the market is fully regulated?

To express my personal opinion, I think that anonymity is not fully protected even in today's conditions. I think there will be no anonymity, especially when online casino services are becoming more popular and more popular. 

As long as we don't give our information to them and yet we are still allowed to gamble, I believe we are doing an anonymous gambling.
In terms of IP address, we can always hide that using VPN services, so we can always keep our anonymity 100%.

As I mentioned, I think that even though there is no regulation today, the services we use do not happen in the future as I think that our identity or other information is not stored anonymously. In addition, we should not forget the fact that this process we are talking about is not very far away.

It might come sooner or later, we never know as I'm pretty sure that the government are also watching us, they are just waiting for the right timing to implement or still making the right regulation on how to treat crypto casinos, with regulation, it makes gives them a boost of their taxes, so there is no reason they will not touch us.

[20kevin20]

In terms of IP address, we can always hide that using VPN services, so we can always keep our anonymity 100%.

It depends on a few factors, but in general VPNs do not make you 100% anonymous. They only give you a false feeling of anonymity and using them might even get you banned, depending on the casino ToS.

In fact, some VPNs are logging a lot of crucial data about you. McAfee Safe Connect logs your IPs, timestamps, browsing history and even what other software you have installed. The list of the stuff they collect is quite scary, check it out here.

Also check out these policies:

Hoxx VPN: "We may share your data with our services providers (...). We have contracts with our service providers that prohibit them from sharing the information about you that they collect or that we provide to them with anyone else, or using it for other purposes."
Hola VPN: "We may also transfer or disclose Personal Information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies."
McAfee Safe Connect: "We may share Personal Information in the following ways: (..) To legal, governmental, or judicial authorities as instructed or required by those authorities and applicable laws, or in relation to a legal activity, such as in response to a subpoena or investigation of suspected illicit or illegal activities, or where we believe in good faith that users may be engaged in illicit or illegal activities, or where we are bound by contract or law to enable a customer or business partner to comply with applicable laws;"

As you can see, the examples above are quite scary. VPNs may unlock some content that is unavailable in your country, but they surely do not make you anonymous at all - and I think people who are using VPNs are more likely to be checked out by the gov than those who do not try to go off the grid at all.

[LogitechMouse]

Right now, most of the gambling site aren't requiring the users KYC but in the long run especially when crypto will be regulated (not hoping though) anonymity will not be there already.

I know that there are some cases where they can trace you thru the IP you are using and even when you are buying Bitcoin, the fact that you passed on the KYC then the anonymity is not already there. I'm not expecting myself to be forever anonymous though so I will just not gamble at all .

[Sadlife]

Looks like if that happens we have to sacrifice a little bit of our privacy to play our favorite casino and sport betting games. It's most likely unavoidable in the near future but its necessary while there are cons there are also pros. Because we might get insurance and protection against scam gambling sites.

[bitbunnny]

I think that in todays' world we have lost our privacy completely, that become an illusion. Many say that we needed to sacrifice part of our privacy to get protection and some benefits. That is the true, but how big the cost is it's yet to find out.
Gambling sites are no exception and KYC and other legal obligations are a must. So, if you want to use legitimate sites I think you can't escape it.
We see how many people are not happy with KYC and protest because of their privacy but on the other hand on social networks and similar places they reveal much more on themselves than it's decent and acceptable. So, what's the point...

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Looks like if that happens we have to sacrifice a little bit of our privacy to play our favorite casino and sport betting games. It's most likely unavoidable in the near future but its necessary while there are cons there are also pros. Because we might get insurance and protection against scam gambling sites.

When we began to access a site or a gambling site, and we start to sign up expect that our anonymity was gone because before we sign up they will ask our email address and other information and sometimes they required KYC, that is why we should avoid scam gambling sites for us not to steal our information. In today's generation don't expect that you could hide your identity, even you use fake information because there are some organizations and people who can easily trace you.