Bitcoins have fascinated me since they were first introduced and "mined" by it's creator then offered for sale on the open market. My son mentioned them to me as he is an avid online forum Reddit reader. I wondered then if they would eventually find their way into online gambling, and they have, although not as widely as I thought, im guessing because the are not a regulated "currency" nor are they actually a real "currency" and they are hard to get. I was amused when the FBI went after them in 2013, not surprised, as they were suspected of being used for money laundering and. not surprised when a bug was found that allowed millions to be created for free. That was quickly plugged up.
I suppose the draw to using them for online gambling is that they are non traceable, because they are not bankable in bitcoin form. However, as in any sort of transaction that would create a gain, they are taxable. The IRS finally made this clear in 2014, however, about the only way they would find out about it is if they did an audit and found out about a bitcoin account and deduced you had used them for transactions in good and services. " Gains are taxable in the year they are realized. Realization occurs when you exchange bitcoins for any type of other property; such as cash, merchandise, or services. This includes everything from haircuts to yachts. Essentially, any transaction involving Bitcoin is a realization event and triggers taxable gain. Note: IRS Notice 2014-21 expressly confirms this treatment." This was a quote from a tax attorney explaining tax-ability of bitcoin transactions to Reddit readers.
If you are not a US citizen of course and your stay here in the US does not require you pay taxes, , those taxation issues would not pertain to you, you would be regulated by your country of citizenship.
If they were easy to get it would be an idea solution for US gamblers, just get a bitcoin wallet and off you go( although I have no idea how those wallets work, I know coins go out as bitcoins and are exchanged as currency at the casino, but, how would you withdraw?) I suppose in answering your question, if you are a US citizen, it would be a risk using them because of tax-ability, on top of the current risk already out there for USA gamblers. Just my opinion.
Interesting question.
