Altcoin Crypto Guide
If you want to find an altcoin casino where you can play using some of your more obscure tokens, we have good news – there are plenty of sites that now accept digital currencies other than Bitcoin. But where can you find these altcoin casinos? And which altcoins are best for casino players?
Our experts have put together the ultimate guide to using altcoins at online casinos which will get you up to speed in no time.
What Is an Altcoin?
‘Altcoin’ is shorthand for alternative coin. In a literal sense, that means any alternative to Bitcoin (BTC), which is the first-ever cryptocurrency.
In other words, nearly every single type of cryptocurrency is an altcoin.
Ethereum has long held second position in terms of market cap. Even though it’s technically an altcoin, it’s rarely referred to as such. You’ll more likely to see the following groupings:
Within altcoins, you’ll also see a lot of meme coins, which deserve their own category for the absurdity of it all, if nothing else.
Altcoins vs Bitcoin
Altcoins have a huge number of advantages over Bitcoin. Even though Bitcoin is accepted at all of the best crypto casinos, it still has more than 9,500 competitors. Pitting all of them against Bitcoin on its own almost seems like an unfair fight.
When comparing altcoins and Bitcoin at crypto casinos, we can see that altcoins offer key benefits such as faster transfers, lower costs, added security, and increased convenience.
Transfer Times Compared
One fairly easy way to compare Bitcoin to altcoins is by looking at the average transfer time. This is an important metric, as you want your deposits and withdrawals to land as soon as possible. After all, it’s one of the key selling points of crypto casinos.
Each crypto has a measurement called transfers per second, which is referred to as either TPS or tx/s. This can be used to calculate the average transaction time.
On average, sending Bitcoin takes over five minutes. But altcoins are often much faster. For example, a transfer using Internet Computer (ICP) takes less than half a second.
Here’s a comparison of average transfer times for the most common altcoins at online crypto casinos:
Altcoins at Crypto Casinos
Go back a few years and it was tough to find a legitimate crypto casino. Even quite recently, the best you could hope for was a BTC casino.
But these days, you can go through the A-Z of crypto casinos and find at least one altcoin at nearly every single site. And with good reason.
Being locked into just one coin is annoying. Just in the same way that it would be irritating and inconvenient if a casino only used EUR, and you wanted to play with USD.
The more altcoins you can use at crypto casinos, the better. Many of these tokens offer faster transfers, lower fees, and added security. It’s also fundamentally more convenient to play with the coin you already have, instead of having to trade it. And many of us already own these smaller altcoins, especially if you’re into crypto investing.
Our crypto casino reviews list the available coins and currencies for each site. You’ll also be able to see them when you sign up and log into your account. Head to the cashier and you’ll see a dropdown containing all the altcoins available at the site.
Pros and Cons of Altcoins
If you’re undecided on whether to use your altcoins to play at crypto casinos or stick with good old Bitcoin, take a look at the main pros and cons of casino altcoins:
Pros
- Faster. Almost all altcoins have faster transfers than Bitcoin, and by some margin
- Cheaper. The gas or transfer fees are very often cheaper for non-BTC coins
- Secure. Added security measures are available on altcoins such as Monero
- Innovative. Some casinos create their own altcoins, which can bring added benefits
Cons
- Volatile. Prices are much more likely to change quickly with smaller altcoins
- Fewer options. Not all altcoins will be available at your favourite crypto casinos
- Bonuses. Even though bonuses are more flexible these days, some remain BTC-only