App ‘Bitkup’ brings unique Bitcoin betting to Brazil World Cup 2014

Launched last week, Bitcoin betting web application Bitkup will allow betters to play for the entire Brazil World Cup 2014 for an initial buy-in of 0.05 BTC.

Bitkup team says that 80% (0.04 BTC) of the betting fee will be added in the BITPOT, the jackpot, while the “other 20% (0.01 BTC) will be used to compensate for the costs incurred from the design, development, server and publicity of the platform.”

All participants will play in the pool referred to as the Bitkup PRO league by predicting the final score of each match in the world cup, while only top 20 correct guessers will be the winners, who each will win a share of the Bitcoin jackpot at the end of the tournament.

How did Bitkup come to be?

Bitkup was formed by a “small group of independent developers who back Bitcoin” and who decided to merge their love of soccer and Bitcoin into an online sports betting service.

How does it work?

Bitkup operates on a points system. Participants will input their score predictions before the start of each match, and will be given a certain number of points based on the outcome. Correctly guessing a win or a draw will give 1 point per match. However, correctly guessing the exact score will give 3 points. In addition, answering the bonus question right – “Who’s going to win the World Cup?”- will give 10 points. At the end, top 20 correct guessers each will be given a portion of the BitPot – which as of today is valued at 1.94 BTC -, with the first qualified keeping a whopping 50% of the pool, second keeping 15%, third taking home 13%, and the remaining 17 runners-up splitting 22% among themselves.

Is this trustworthy?

Bitkup claims it has a very tight security policy, because of which all Bitcoins are in a public license and can be checked anytime, proving the advertised prize’s existence. In addition to this, Bitkup boasts of its platform’s across-the-board transparency, which allows users to track each other’s gaming history from earlier games that have taken place at that moment. Although this open door policy has good intentions, it may turn away some gamblers looking for more of a private betting experience. Nevertheless, Bitkup also offers an option to play without the 0.05 BTC buy-in, in the Bitkup FREE league, which also offers prizes for the leaders of the pool.