In a first for the US gaming industry, Choctaw Casinos & Resorts has partnered with Bitline and Everi to introduce cryptocurrency as a payment option. Many US retail casinos have begun embracing the convenience of cashless wagering in recent years, but cryptocurrency transactions have until now remained the domain of unregulated offshore iGaming.
Through Everi’s CashClub payment infrastructure, Bitline’s platform enables casino patrons to convert cryptocurrency into casino chips, providing them a new flexible option that eliminates traditional banking limitations. Uncertainty around government policies on cryptocurrency may have been one thing holding the casino industry back from embracing the possibilities. However, President Donald Trump has signaled that his administration will be taking a friendly stance on the issue, which seems to have influenced the timing of this move by Choctaw.
Everi is in the process of merging with IGT, another major casino supplier, which may facilitate the roll-out of similar technology at other casinos in the future.
In a press release, Thomas McDonald, Senior Director of Cage and Credit at Choctaw Casinos & Resorts, shared his excitement about offering cryptocurrency as another way to play. Meanwhile, Bitline CEO Richard Jones praised the historical moment for crypto and casinos:
Working with Choctaw Casinos & Resorts and Everi to make this a reality is a historical moment for both the casino and blockchain industries. Bitline was conceptualized to advance the gaming sector and offer a wider variety of financial options for the casino industry.
We’re entering an era where digital assets can fundamentally enhance the gaming experience, providing casino operators with a future-ready financial framework that can expand and evolve as the industry does. This collaboration is just the beginning of our vision to modernize casino payment capabilities on a global scale.
The solution was formally rolled out on March 7 at the Choctaw’s Durant, Oklahoma location. Bitline calls the Choctaw partnership the first phase of its mission to bring cryptocurrency to US and global casinos, suggesting that more casinos could accept cryptocurrency in the future.
Q&A with Bitline CEO Richard Jones
Bitline’s CEO, Richard Jones, spoke with Bonus about the Everi-Choctaw partnership and the potential of cryptocurrency at US retail casinos.
Bonus: What is a crypto transaction with a Choctaw cashier going to look like for a guest? Can you give us a step-by-step explanation of how it works in practice? Are cash-outs the same process in reverse?
Jones: “Cryptocurrency transactions with a Choctaw Casino Cashier will follow a very similar functionality to current-day cash value vouchers used in the casino environment. Cashiers interact with secure barcodes provided by the patrons’ mobile devices to receive playing liquidity in exchange for their cryptocurrency transaction amount. The crypto transaction process is just as fast or potentially faster than other traditional methods.”
Bonus: President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail that he’d be “the crypto president” and has already taken certain actions to that effect, like announcing a strategic crypto reserve. Did the crypto-friendly stance of the current administration factor into the timing of this move?
Jones: “The new administration’s stance on cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption was the result of understanding the technology and the trends in market demand and innovation. So I’d say the timing was not necessarily a coincidence, but rather innovation and governance having alignment with foresight of market adoption, which is not something we often see. We have been working on this product to develop the relationships to usher in blockchain for casino payments for a much longer period than the current election results. However, of course it doesn’t hurt that the timing aligns with new expectations for blockchain’s future role in banking and payments industries, respectively.”
Bonus: Crypto uptake has traditionally skewed young and male, as does online gambling. Do you expect to see the same kind of demand for crypto payments at retail casinos, where the demographics are different?
Jones: “We feel the first movers will resemble the current market as you mention. The Bitline product is tailored to a higher-end player and provides an amazing substitute for carrying large amounts of cash. We also feel that as blockchain inevitably progresses into traditional markets and banking platforms, our product will see a broader demographic diversity based on user adoption for all crypto-based products and services. That being said, casinos and casino patrons now will have another way to use their digital assets to access cash value efficiently, effectively, and at scale.”
Bonus: Is tribal sovereignty a factor in this initial choice of partner? Are we going to see crypto payments at state-regulated commercial casinos any time soon, or are you sticking to the tribal sector so that you only have to deal with federal authority?
Jones: “Our aspirations are global and nothing short of that. Cryptocurrency in the casino space is already approved for use in Las Vegas, in its current format, cryptocurrency options are not very useful for patrons and are not scalable in any way. To address this gap in the market, we simply built a better mechanism for meaningful, scalable and compliant transactions to meet casino and patron needs. If a patron wants $5,000,000 in playing liquidity on a Sunday morning at 3 am, Bitline can facilitate that transaction in a matter of minutes satisfying a need for both parties previously not possible.”
How Bitline Works
Interested casino patrons who want to use crypto as a payment method can create an account on the Bitline app. To start, they must input their personal information, including their name, phone number, and email. For security, they must confirm their email and set up a two-factor authentication method, such as a text message code.
Once they register, users must verify their identity through the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. That requires inputting an address, uploading a photo of a government-issued ID, and a selfie to match the ID. The KYC process takes only a few minutes. Once completed, users can deposit cryptocurrency into their Bitline wallet by following these steps:
- Click “Deposit Crypto”
- Select cryptocurrency
- Copy the wallet address or scan the QR code
- Open their cryptocurrency exchange and send the desired crypto amount to the copied wallet address.
The cryptocurrency will appear in the Bitline wallet. To play at casinos, users must create a “guarantee,” which is essentially a collateral. They can do that by clicking on the guarantee icon, selecting the amount and cryptocurrency they want to use, and then locking it. A QR code will be generated with the equivalent amount in US dollars. Users must present the QR code to the casino cashier cage. The cashier scans the QR code and provides the equivalent value in casino chips.
The current administration’s favorable sentiment on crypto
The introduction of cryptocurrency to the US gaming industry comes when the outlook on crypto is shifting positively. While cryptocurrency is not yet recognized as legal tender in the US, the current administration, led by President Trump, has indicated a more favorable stance.
During his election campaign, Trump promised to be the “Crypto President” and started accepting campaign donations with cryptocurrency. Several administration appointments of pro-crypto individuals, such as Howard Lutnik as Secretary of Commerce and David Sacks as White House AI & Crypto Czar, reflect Trump’s sentiment on crypto. Additionally, the president has nominated Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Atkins has previously called for clearer crypto regulation. The SEC recently dropped a lawsuit against Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchange platforms.
In other positive moves for the crypto industry, Trump signed an order to create a strategic cryptocurrency reserve on March 6. Additionally, he scheduled the first Crypto White House Summit with several crypto executives, including Coinbase, on March 7.
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