Vera & John no longer accept bitcoin

1 May, 2014

Vera&John casino recently removed bitcoin as a payment option from their site. This was done without the fanfare they introduced bitcoin as a payment option just three months ago. Is it a no confidence vote for the world's most popular cryptocurrency, or is something else behind it?

Some gambling news sites have speculated that Vera&John had concerns about the stability of the currency and this is the reason they pulled the plug.

See the chart below showing bitcoin's roller-coaster ride from just a few dollars in 2012 to near $1200 at the end of 2013, and then down to around $450+ that it is today.

Despite the wild swings, this has nothing to do with Vera&John removing bitcoin. The real reason is that the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has "advised" license holders to not accept bitcoin till it is regulated. Vera&John is licensed in Malta and has therefore agreed to suspend its bitcoin option till some sort of regulation is in place.

The LGA sees bitcoin gambling as a huge threat to its licensing regime. Demanding license holders to not accept bitcoin till there "some sort of regulation" is in place is pretty much the same as never accepting bitcoin. It's a strategic move against bitcoin gambling from one of Europe's most popular licensing regimes.

The LGA is not the only anti-bitcoin campaigner. The banking industry, the governments and government sponsored entities and so-called experts who in return promote government agendas, are all reaching out to the internet community via news articles and blog posts claiming that "everyone wants to regulate bitcoin". This is of course complete bullshit.

Their "problem" they say are not just the intermediaries converting bitcoin to dollars, euros or other fiat, on behalf of a third party, which could be used for money-laundering - their worry is that bitcoin does not require a profit-taking middleman - it makes banks obsolete, and that scares the shit out of these people.

In regards to using bitcoins it is fine that the biggest e-retailers in America accept it, such as Overstock.com, but spinning the slots for bitcoin on a site that is hosted offshore is a big no-no.

The majority of bitcoiners do not want the government telling us on what, where and how we can use our coins! Say no to bitcoin regulation by playing at these fine bitcoin gambling destinations.