GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 36 - October 2016

to enact certain restrictions that prohibit gray-market sites from working. But what always happens is, the gray-market sites will adapt quickly and will find other ways to use it, and it’s going to be a tug-of-war between the gaming regulators or state financial regulators and gray sites.” WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR AFFILIATES? Barring another scandal on the scale of Mt. Gox, both the number of bitcoin casinos and the number of online casinos offering bitcoin as a payment option are likely to increase. BitStarz Affiliates pays affiliates in both bitcoin and euros, as they request. Garber says this system is working well. “We see that more and more affiliates like the idea of earning bitcoins as a side revenue, which many see as a long-term investment similar to gold,” she explained. “Many traditional casino affiliates are surprised to see that they actually also have bitcoin revenue, as they would never think that their players would even have bitcoins or play with them. They realize that they attracted a new type of player that they could not monetize before.” Most affiliate programs that pay out in bitcoin offer some kind of tutorial or support services for affiliates who are new to the currency. “(Bitcoin) does require a bit more than just press and pay,” Slankamenac said. “It asks for a bit more knowledge — that you understand the system of how it sends, what cryptoaddresses are, how to open wallets, and how to register, and that you educate yourself on the dangers of it as well as the benefits.” He added that Casino Extreme offers a 24-hour support line for affiliates and players alike, as well as “Welcome to bitcoin” letters, links and explanations at their fingertips. “Once they learn what it is, then we go from there and show them how to make an account, how to use it, how to receive payments, how to make payments — everything,” Slankamenac said. SECURITY IS PARAMOUNT Everyone we spoke to stressed the need for taking proper security measures when receiving bitcoin. “There’s no hackproof or foolproof system that’s been invented,” Walters warned. “The blockchain is pretty darn good, but there have been hacks and there have been losses. So just remember, when you’re holding bitcoin in an electronic wallet, that there are security enhancements that can be provided. There are secured wallets that many of the providers will allow you to establish, and there are security devices that you can install yourself that make your bitcoin more secure.” At minimum, proper security for bitcoin means checking all information carefully, and not keeping too much bitcoin online. “When funds go through for payment, you cannot go back,” Slankamenac said. “There is no way of retrieving your funds once you press pay. “Double-check everything: That it’s the right cryptoaddress; that it’s the right person; that they send you the confirmation once you’ve done it; that it is done to the correct wallet.” Slankamenac’s No. 1 piece of advice to affiliates was not to take anyone at their word. “Keep to the blockchain,” he advised. “We’ve found blockchain.info to be very informative for every single payment. You can track everything there.” “There’s a lot of scam artists, if I can say it bluntly like that,” he said. “We had a client who was sending funds to a person who then said he was sending bitcoin to us for her, and it turned out that he was sending less bitcoin than what she was paying him in the other currency.” Garber also had advice for affiliates new to bitcoin. “Firstly, find a good and reliable bitcoin exchange that accepts customers from your country and which can instantly exchange your bitcoins to euros or U.S. dollars and vice versa,” she said. “Secondly, don’t hold more than 10 BTC in bitcoin exchanges. COVER STORY ‘Bullish’ on bitcoin Stronger regulatory infrastructure may help alleviate public concern about bitcoin’s legitimacy — although regulators are likely to have the same concerns. Illustration by Sentavio/Shutterstock W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 24