Poker Site Buys $100 Million of Bitcoin Every Month to Pay Players in BTC

[TopT3ns]

They are anticipating the future huge market demand, in fact, they started to feel it this time since most of their players are asking for it. I could think also that the other sites respond to the current market demand and I see this away to a massive adoption with crypto with the help of the pandemic and as well as the increased numbers of gambling sites.

If this will continue, that seems possible to see that Bitcoin price will keep on the higher position than seeing it dumps deep. probably one factor that we are almost reaching back to $20k.

I think what you are saying about anticipating demand that is too high is true maybe the gambling place does that, but on the side of the volatile bitcoin price movement it will make us gambling places a loss if bitcoin falls to cheap prices because it has already bought to stock at the gambling place The prices are high, and I firmly believe only a few large gambling establishments are willing to take this kind of action.

[Boov]

This is something new,

Demand for bitcoin payouts has been rising, particularly after the recent price rally. One of the largest online poker websites, Winning Poker Network (WPN), has been buying millions of dollars worth of bitcoin in recent weeks from OTC desks to meet players’ cashout demand, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing WPN CEO Phil Nagy.

Nagy explained that bitcoin is in so much demand that brokers are charging up to a 1.5% premium. He clarified that WPN does not hold onto bitcoin, adding that the cryptocurrency is converted into fiat currency as soon as possible.

He revealed that his platform does more than 60% of its transaction volume in bitcoin, totaling about $100 million a month. Noting that about 60% of customers cashed out in bitcoin before the recent price rally, he said:

RIGHT NOW 90-95% OF OUR PAYOUTS ARE PEOPLE ASKING FOR BITCOIN BECAUSE IT’S GOING UP. WE ARE CONSTANTLY HAVING TO GO OUT AND BUY BITCOIN — LOTS. LOTS. MORE THAN WE’VE EVEN HAD TO BEFORE.

https://www.techtelegraph.co.uk/poker-site-buys-100-million-of-bitcoin-every-month-to-pay-players-in-btc/

But I'm not surprised that gamblers are preferring btc as payout instead of fiat because of the rising price of bitcoin. I even watch one youtube channel about a women showing her win in a traditional base casino and she blurted out that his winnings are going into bitcoin. LMAO.

Don't be surprised mate, that their own ways to increase btc holdings and the biggest potential is to deal with gambling. Expert gamblers always using this strategies, most of them were now turning millionaires despite of the health crisis that were facing. They're more richer than youtube vloggers, because of their anonymous being who gambles huge money not only with gambling but for trading cryptocurrencies.

[magneto]

This means a lot for bitcoin as a transaction processor but not really much for BTC as an investment.

I suspect that a lot of these people who are looking to cash out to BTC are simply doing so for anonymity and privacy later. They could and probably are going to cash it out on the OTC/P2P markets as soon as they get the funds. Even the investors are probably only in the market for the short term to "gamble" on market movements.

So don't expect for the poker industry to be a huge long term source of demand for BTC. If people are not using cashouts for long term investment or actual adoption, it doesn't really matter.

[ene1980]

This means a lot for bitcoin as a transaction processor but not really much for BTC as an investment.

I suspect that a lot of these people who are looking to cash out to BTC are simply doing so for anonymity and privacy later. They could and probably are going to cash it out on the OTC/P2P markets as soon as they get the funds. Even the investors are probably only in the market for the short term to "gamble" on market movements.

Even if we assume that what you said is true there is a lot of coins that are purchased on a monthly basis and that is not a small volume, not sure whether the said site is having mandatory verification as most of the fiat based sites are really strict on that aspect.

So don't expect for the poker industry to be a huge long term source of demand for BTC. If people are not using cashouts for long term investment or actual adoption, it doesn't really matter.

Since the amount here is $100 million it matters, the volume is a huge factor and this is another form of adoption and you cannot expect everyone to invest in bitcoin and say HODL for the next decade:D.

[pilosopotasyo]

They are anticipating the future huge market demand, in fact, they started to feel it this time since most of their players are asking for it. I could think also that the other sites respond to the current market demand and I see this away to a massive adoption with crypto with the help of the pandemic and as well as the increased numbers of gambling sites.

If this will continue, that seems possible to see that Bitcoin price will keep on the higher position than seeing it dumps deep. probably one factor that we are almost reaching back to $20k.

I can think of two reasons why the price is moving up, the PayPal news and and this news, $100 million is a big amount just enough to make a pump in the market, I hope this will continue for a long time and many more sites related to Poker will do the same, imagine if there are 10 or similar sites that rewards their players and employees with Bitcoin, it's going to move Bitcoin price to the moon.

[Reatim]

They are anticipating the future huge market demand, in fact, they started to feel it this time since most of their players are asking for it. I could think also that the other sites respond to the current market demand and I see this away to a massive adoption with crypto with the help of the pandemic and as well as the increased numbers of gambling sites.

Well what about now that the price of Bitcoin is falling Hope this won't affect the  business as the players are mostly from US and i think they are Bagging BTC for the coming Bull.

If this will continue, that seems possible to see that Bitcoin price will keep on the higher position than seeing it dumps deep. probably one factor that we are almost reaching back to $20k.

100 million dollars in BTC per month is not that big contribution to the market But of course it counts because combining many gambling sites that will follow this action is really a good for us all.

[Ucy]

I guess the poker site has option to cash out (or pay customers) in multiple currencies and it seems many more of their customers recently started demanding to cash out in Bitcoin due to the price rally... so the site has to buy lots of bitcoins to meet customers demands. That is very interesting.

[Rodeo02]

I guess the poker site has option to cash out (or pay customers) in multiple currencies and it seems many more of their customers recently started demanding to cash out in Bitcoin due to the price rally... so the site has to buy lots of bitcoins to meet customers demands. That is very interesting.

That's also good sign for investors since many requested to have it in BTC means many new holder is now building their portfolio and make Bitcoin as one of their investment. Other reason is to hide it to other people so they will never know that he wins a lot if they don't see it in her hand after winning .

[santiPOGI]

What a huge amount dude, 100$ actually was a very large amount of money just for the players only. That means the site poker was really earned a big amount of money in it. This shows also that a lot people now all over the places in the world knows the game of Poker anyway, it's one of the popular games in nowadays in online or land based gambling site too.

[leea-1334]

Strange though,,, I thought bookies only pay out in the same currency that players deposit in, so would you not only be paying out Bitcoin from deposits? And since most casinos should be making their profits in deposits accepted, they should not be buying more BTC to pay out.

Or am I missing something in the picture here?

[GrinZ]

The use of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in casinos is getting more widespread and as the gambling industry is a growing industry, I am not surprised by the amount spoken

[Mauser]

Strange though,,, I thought bookies only pay out in the same currency that players deposit in, so would you not only be paying out Bitcoin from deposits? And since most casinos should be making their profits in deposits accepted, they should not be buying more BTC to pay out.

Or am I missing something in the picture here?

No, the casinos I gamble on don't care about the currency you withdraw
The site is run on USD, so all currency deposit are converted to USD when you sign up. And your balance is also always in USD. As for the withdrawal the casino is just buying at the current market rate the bitcoin and transfer it. There is no risk die the casino since they don't hold the currencies over a longer period of time.

I am actually doing the same for a few months now. I deposit with fiat currency and withdraw in cryptos.

[coin-investor]

If they strongly believe that the price of Bitcoin will skyrocket, they will still buy Bitcoin even if the price of Bitcoin is dropping or moving up, right now this is the best time to buy Bitcoin again because it's now down 10% and could even go lower.
I believe companies and institutions will finally come and be part of the market and this will trigger the price to go to the moon, but I'm not expecting it to go $50k right away.

[Renampun]

What a huge amount dude, 100$ actually was a very large amount of money just for the players only. That means the site poker was really earned a big amount of money in it. This shows also that a lot people now all over the places in the world knows the game of Poker anyway, it's one of the popular games in nowadays in online or land based gambling site too.

$ 100 million dude, not $ 100...
gamblers who withdraw with Bitcoin are sure to hope to make a profit because Bitcoin is bullish but the current market correction must be very painful for them. btw, poker is a type of gambling that is very popular because playing with skill and experience is not just luck.

[wiss19]

Sounds good but how they are managing is really simple because the article mentioned that "WPN does not hold onto bitcoin, adding that the cryptocurrency is converted into fiat currency as soon as possible." which is the right way for them to do it.

It is also mentioned that 95% players are demanding payments in Bitccoin which is actually massive given there are other payment options too but because of the price hike recently or maybe for anonymity I don't know but 95% is really big.

One thing that was cool is that players can deposit with USD and withdraw with BTC because at most sites you can only withdraw what you deposited.

[Ryker1]

Well, this is a WPN network that manages different gambling sites and it may not be impossible if they purchased a large number of bitcoins for the payout of their winners but considering $100 million worth of bitcoin is somehow unbelievable to me. If WPN also accepts bitcoin deposits from their players as payment then it should not be that huge amount of bitcoin for they should rather use first the payment that came from their players before purchasing bitcoin outside, which will cost them another transaction fee but if they really do, -- that means they are paying more than a $100 million bitcoins as a total prize for their winners. I will just consider this as an advertisement that aims to entice gamblers to play in their sites for they publicize how huge they are paying their winners every month and they barely knew that most bitcoin enthusiasts play gambling and this is their way to attract us to join in their platforms.

[kayvie]

Strange though,,, I thought bookies only pay out in the same currency that players deposit in, so would you not only be paying out Bitcoin from deposits? And since most casinos should be making their profits in deposits accepted, they should not be buying more BTC to pay out.

Or am I missing something in the picture here?

It depends on the casino that you are playing. There are websites the same as OP posted, that offer their players to choose the currency they want for their payout. And yes, casinos should be making their profits from the deposits so they shouldn't buy BTC for payout, however, as per the article, gamblers are depositing using dollar deposits and choosing bitcoin when they withdraw.

[arwin100]

Strange though,,, I thought bookies only pay out in the same currency that players deposit in, so would you not only be paying out Bitcoin from deposits? And since most casinos should be making their profits in deposits accepted, they should not be buying more BTC to pay out.

Or am I missing something in the picture here?

It depends on the casino that you are playing. There are websites the same as OP posted, that offer their players to choose the currency they want for their payout. And yes, casinos should be making their profits from the deposits so they shouldn't but BTC for payout, however, as per the article, gamblers are depositing using dollar deposits and choosing bitcoin when they withdraw.

Maybe this thing only applicable on casino's who newly shift on bitcoins that's why this buying thing always happened to them and I don't get surprise from this actually since I think this really happened especially when there winners hit the jackpot prize in some certain instance.

[angrybirdy]

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Maybe this thing only applicable on casino's who newly shift on bitcoins that's why this buying thing always happened to them and I don't get surprise from this actually since I think this really happened especially when there winners hit the jackpot prize in some certain instance.

This is the possible scenario in this. The said casino might be started by accepting fiat deposits and previously start to accept bitcoin to gather more players. And since they started by accepting fiat, they don't remove that option and continue to accept it.

[coinlocket$]

Never eared about this poker network ever.
Created in 2019, no testimonial players. Never seen in an Event.

This will be a thing when Pokerstars or someone else like Partypoker/888 will do the same thing, these networks.


The poker rooms UI reminds me a lot of the dead FullTiltPoker..