BetVIP launches as first licensed Bitcoin-only sportsbook

With the Brazil World Cup commencing this Thursday, BetVip.com has just gone live as the first licensed sportsbook that deals exclusively in Bitcoin. With offices in Malta and South Africa, and a gaming license in Curacao, the startup announced its launch with “the aim of adding transparency and legitimacy to the nascent currency.”

The idea for BetVIP came from digital entrepreneur Daniel Schwartzkopff, a South-African business executive with a background in the technology, start-up and social networking sectors. He created BetVIP to “allow bettors to benefit from the fast transactions and low costs of Bitcoin exchange.”The site accepts wagers and pays out winnings in Bitcoin only. Bets are only accepted in regulated markets.

The BetVIP platform is powered by, as BetVIP says in its press release, “leading gaming solutions supplier BetTech,whose platform is used by customers around the world in legal jurisdictions.”

Schwartzkopff aims to gain bettors’ trust by providing transparency and accountability.

“We might trade in an anonymous currency but we are providing complete transparency and accountability in order to build trust with our players,” he says. 

But being a reliable platform for Bitcoin betting is not BetVIP’s only goal, according to Schwartzkopff. BetVIP, like many other cryptocurrency startups, has devoted itself to “help the growing movement of people that want to normalize the currency and bring it into everyday use.”

BetVIP provides both pre-match and in-play wagering opportunities to online and mobile players. All first-time customers will benefit from a 100% first deposit bonus, an incentive to place their best bet on the many international sporting events offered.