Have you ever wandered into the gaming section on Twitch and watched all those streamers losing their minds and hyping up the audience for each game they played? They mostly play in crypto arcades – the modern take on classic online arcades that only accept cryptocurrencies as payment methods.
If you wanted to try your luck at one of these games, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll teach you all the basics about Bitcoin and then talk about games that let you win Bitcoin.
What Bitcoin Is and How it Works
We need to start from the beginning here, before we can even talk about games, protecting assets, and other parts of the gaming world. First, let’s see what Bitcoin is and how you can use it.
Bitcoin, often abbreviated as BTC, is a cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are a relatively new breed of completely digital money not backed by any entity (e.g., a bank or country). Instead, the community itself regulates the cryptocurrency, affecting its value and trading flow. That’s why you’ll hear people call cryptocurrencies decentralized.
The “crypto” part comes from cryptography – code that protects the identity of each user, as well as transaction data. All transactions are logged in a ledger called the blockchain. That database is also distributed across the whole network of users, so every machine that operates within the Bitcoin network has to verify each transaction, making tampering nearly impossible.
Bitcoin was the very first cryptocurrency ever made. Its creator is a mysterious figure (or several of them) known as Satoshi Nakamoto. The cryptocurrency became available to the public in 2009 and, initially, was incredibly affordable. Infamously, the first-ever real-life purchase made with bitcoins was a pizza order. At the time, two family-sized pizzas were 10,000 bitcoins. Today, the value of that transaction would be millions of dollars.
To start using Bitcoin, you’ll need to get yourself a wallet app and maybe even a hardware wallet to store your crypto in. Once you have that, head to one of many online exchanges where you can purchase Bitcoin using any fiat currency. With a wallet full of crypto, you can finally make your way to an online game site with bitcoin games.
Playing at a Bitcoin Arcade
At a glance, a Bitcoin arcade is no different from any other online arcade. There are games, and more; the only distinction is that you’ll be depositing bitcoins into your game account and, in some cases, you can just link your wallet to the game site instead of making an account. That way, you can stay anonymous while playing.
Another similarity to regular online arcades is the welcome offer. Practically all arcades will give you some bonus play time to start. The games at Bitcoin arcades are, primarily, the same ones you’ll find at other places, but not without exceptions. Some game providers make games exclusively for Bitcoin game sites.
Security and Fairness
We’ve already mentioned how the arcades protect your privacy using the blockchain. Another security measure that’s pretty standard issue for online arcades is an SSL certificate, ensuring no data escapes the platform unencrypted. Nobody can see who is winning what, and user data is entirely untraceable by bad actors.
While it’s understandable to worry that the games might be rigged, most arcades of this kind are fair. Since the code for the main algorithm is stored in the blockchain, it’s safe from tampering and changing, meaning that the game is always fair to its players. Of course, it’s still wise to keep a close eye on your bitcoin wallet information just like you would the numbers on your credit card.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how Bitcoin gaming works and why it’s so popular. There are many great crypto arcades/game sites out there – even in the metaverse! – so it’s just a matter of choosing the right one and having tons of fun.
