What Is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that launched in July 2015, and it is different from Bitcoin – the original crypto – in many ways. Ethereum, which has the ticker symbol ETH, allows for Ethereum smart contracts, ETH NFTs, and Ethereum dapps, making it a very versatile platform.
To date, there has been one ETH hard fork which led to the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC), though ETC is not popular for betting online, and no online sportsbook of note supports it. Ethereum itself, often called Ether, is currently the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world, and the Q1 2021 Ethereum price is hovering at just around $1800-$2000.
Naturally, then, it’s no surprise that nearly all reputable legal betting sites (with the notable exception of Bovada Sportsbook) accept Ethereum deposits. For legal sports betting, Ethereum is slightly faster than Bitcoin in terms of transaction speed, and because it’s so widely used – and because Ethereum trading is such a robust market – many bettors favor it to Bitcoin sports betting.
That said, Ethereum gambling is slower than some other crypto platforms when it comes to online banking at legitimate online sportsbooks. Both Litecoin betting and Stellar betting have faster transaction times (though only by a few minutes).