Bitcoin Not a Roll of the Dice, But a Digital Currency with Staying Power, Say Poker Site Experts

Bitcoin hasn’t had a great new year so far, but the digital currency has staying power, according to poker site owners who think that despite its roulette wheel ups and downs, it’s here to stay.

They have a vested interest in Bitcoin, too. At least 140 online betting sites (and 10 platforms offering web poker) allow players to use the digital Bitcoin. Industry analysts estimate that more than 50 percent of worldwide Bitcoin transactions are made on gambling sites. It has become a market worth billions.

If the price of Bitcoin drops, are poker sites hurt? Not a bit, according to one expert.

Poker pro Bryan Micon, the affiliate manager for the leading Bitcoin-only online poker site Seals with Clubs, remains optimistic.

“I would characterize the recent downward (then slightly upward) Bitcoin price movement the same way I always characterize them: We are once again observing a small, unregulated market which is completely driven by human supply-demand,” Micon argues. “If more Bitcoin holders want to sell than fiat holders want to buy, the price will go down. When the opposite is true the price will go up,” he added.”

A recent story on Bitcoin fluctuations at CardPlayer.com noted the currency’s recent volatility.

“The virtual currency, which trades mostly in unregulated overseas markets, has fallen 44 percent since the start of the year and 85 percent from the record high of $1,165 it hit in early December 2013. In total, almost $11.3 billion in value has been lost since that peak,” it noted.

Doom and gloom or a risk worth taking for poker sites worldwide? Consider this: Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world, now has a Bitcoin ATM.

Micon thinks “those who have faith in the digital currency aren’t dismayed by downward price movements.”

“I feel the world will continue to embrace Bitcoin over time, and as always, I’m going to continue to hold,” said early adopter Micon, who has been onboard with Bitcoin since 2011. “It’s been my observation that bitcoin poker players tend to play less when the price goes down. I think from a Bitcoin enthusiast standpoint there is less to be excited about as the price slides. The flip side of that coin is that when the price spikes upward humans seem to be more excited about Bitcoin in general, and play seems to pick up.”