• “Cloudbet Madness” promotion combines tipping competition, lucky draws
• Premier U.S. college basketball tournament starts this week

Cloudbet, the pioneering crypto sportsbook, is offering basketball fans a chance to win bitcoin through a bold new March Madness competition.

“Cloudbet Madness” combines a tipping competition with two lucky draws, and is aimed at players betting on the premier event of the U.S. men’s college basketball calendar.

In the first phase of the competition, eligible players predict which teams will make the Sweet 16 round – with the best forecasters banking a slice of the US$5000 bitcoin prize pool into their Cloudbet accounts. The next two phases feature lucky draws, in which eligible participants stand to win an Elite Eight team jersey and more bitcoin bonuses from the prize pool following the Championship round.

Founded in 2013, Cloudbet established itself as one of the world’s leading bitcoin betting operators, with a reputation built on unparalleled security and speedy withdrawals. Its March Madness competition comes at a time when demand is surging for bitcoin amid large-scale purchases from investment firms and from companies including Tesla and Square. Bitcoin is trading at about 10 times its price a year ago – with some firms still forecasting the coin’s value to at least triple in coming months.

“We welcome anyone who’s into March Madness bitcoin betting,” a Cloudbet spokesperson said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Gonzaga or Michigan fan.”

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The operator is also running “Buzzer Beater Bonanza,” whereby it will grade losing moneyline and 1×2 bets during the tournament as wins if the loss results from a last-second shot by the game winners. As it strives to offer the best bitcoin sportsbook for March Madness, the Cloudbet site will highlight the operator’s well-known “zero margin” bets on some games, meaning it will essentially charge no fees to take on the risk of a player’s wager.

Cloudbet’s sportsbook has made a name for itself with its low-margin odds on a multitude of markets around the world, while the Cloudbet casino has hundreds of slots and a live-dealer experience with all classic table games.

The operator now supports nine cryptocurrencies. Six of those coins were launched in 2020, a milestone year in which Cloudbet revamped its website and added features including esports, politics betting, virtual sports, social-media bet sharing and easy credit-card coin purchases.

The Cloudbet Story

Cloudbet is a proud pioneer of crypto betting. Born in 2013 with a trailblazing spirit, Cloudbet embraced blockchain technology to give players privacy and financial freedom like never before. Since then, the site has taken millions of bets, earning a reputation as the most trusted and secure name in the crypto-gaming space. 

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The operator continues to innovate, having just completed a banner year of new features and upgrades aimed at attracting a more diverse audience to what was once a bitcoin-only product. In 2020, Cloudbet launched a revamped website followed by a record six new cryptocurrencies, esports, politics betting, virtual sports, social bet sharing, and easy credit-card coin purchases. 

The site now supports nine coins that collectively account for about 80% of the total market capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies. What’s more, Cloudbet is now available in 20 languages including Spanish, German, Italian, French and Korean.

The new features add to those that have made Cloudbet a trusted leader in the world of crypto gaming: the best sports odds, the highest betting limits, a state-of-the-art bitcoin casino and world-class 24/7 live chat customer support.

After a hotly-contested campaign for the 2020 election, and a see-sawing betting market to match, Cloudbet customers are already sowing some seeds for the leading candidates in 2024

* Kamala Harris is firming up as favourite, down to 4.61, ahead of President Biden at 5.06

*  Before the storming of the Capitol, Donald Trump was 34.0 to win in 2024. Today? he’s down to 8.0

* Mike Pence, on the other hand, is drifting out to 12.0 from 9.0

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With Donald Trump barely out of the White House and Joe Biden ensconced as the 46th President, you’d think it would be time for the betting public to draw breath and have a break from all things political. But not a bit of it… leading crypto betting operator Cloudbet has already seen plenty of action in its 2024 markets.

Setting the Scene

The 2020 US Presidential election was the biggest betting single event in history. $1.8 billion was wagered on Trump v Biden in the Betfair Exchange alone.

Joe Biden was the odds-on favourite – however, for leading crypto betting operator Cloudbet, 80% of the money taken on the US election had been on Trump and the Republicans – and it’s a theme evident across other books as well – with many on the record that a huge proportion of money continued to roll in for Trump and people continued to distrust polling data.

Regardless, Biden and the Democrats won – with a clear 306-versus-232 Electoral College majority, and leading the popular vote tally by a whopping 7.06 million votes. As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ultimately put it, “this election actually was not unusually close.”

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So, this time you’d expect Trump backers to be a tad more circumspect? Well.. up to a point, yes. If you’d looked at the markets you’d have seen Donald J Snr a lowly 33/1 (34.0 in decimals) for 2024. And then came the Capitol riots.. and even since then, the MAGA army have been backing their overlord, down into 8/1 (9.0) for today, after he vaguely promised “”we will be back – in some form” during his farewell salvo.

The Trump Dynasty

While we all wait to see if Trump’s second impeachment is more successful in Congress than the first, the Trump family is still seeing some movement in the markets. Ivanka is the most popular Trump, currently priced at at 25/1 (26.0 in decimals). While Trump’s namesake and eldest son Don Jnr can be backed at 50/1 (51.0). And poor Eric? The second son is a sibling sideshow and rank outsider at 108, even drifting over the past week from 100/1.

Cruzing for Another Bruising

Ted Cruz made his bid before the Capitol riots to pick up the Trump MAGA mantle. But it’s not working for him – at 35.0, he’s even behind Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson 29.0. Fox News’ opinionist-in-chief Tucker Carlson is a rather surprising 34.0 shot.

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So far there’s little appetite in the market for another TV celebrity to replace The Apprentice’s Donald Trump. Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and Mark Zuckerberg are the only other ones to get a quote on the leaderboard; but all rate at longshot, triple-digit threats.

For now, the only serious political figures gaining the public’s attention are the new President and Vice President. Although, interestingly, customers are backing VP Kamala Harris (4.61) to take the top job in 2024, not her boss Joe Biden (5.06), who will be about to celebrate his 82nd birthday at the next election. Despite attending the inauguration, former Vice President Mike Pence can’t be hopeful of his chances, with his odds drifting like a barge.

And for the rest of the field? Unsurprisingly, bettors are waiting to see what happens next amongst the two main parties. That said, one name, Republican ex-Governor Nikki Haley (former UN Ambassador under Donald Trump), is seeing a small surge of money, dropping down from prices in the mid-20s into 15.0. So, if you want to take an early punt, the markets are suggesting this is the most likely early candidate to claim the Republican ticket to be America’s 47th President.

Cloudbet, the pioneering crypto casino and sportsbook, has added MakerDAO’s Dai to the currencies available to its customers amid surging interest for the stablecoin in Argentina and South America.

To complement the launch, the operator is offering a “Red Card Money Back” promotion to customers who bet on select Argentine soccer events with Dai, as well as 200 free spins in the Cloudbet casino to players who deposit the stablecoin into their accounts. New players are eligible for a welcome bonus worth up to 1,000 Dai.

Dai’s introduction comes two weeks after Cloudbet officially launched its Argentina-focused service, and is the latest stablecoin addition this year for the operator, on top of USD Tether, USD Coin and Pax Gold.

Because their value is tied to a “stable” underlying asset, stablecoins have been gaining popularity in crypto-gaming circles as a solution for players seeking to protect their winnings from the extreme volatility experienced by holders of bitcoin and other non-stablecoins. In Argentina, people have been flocking to coins like Dai as a hedge against the devaluation of the peso, amid stringent government capital controls.

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“Stablecoins are supremely relevant in Argentina, where individuals are looking to protect the value of their assets,” a  spokesperson for Cloudbet said. “We said recently that we intend to add more coins that are specifically appropriate for this market, and we’re now following through.”

Founded in 2013, Cloudbet is one of the world’s longest established bitcoin betting operators, with a trusted legacy in safely storing player deposits and processing withdrawals seamlessly on an intuitive user interface.

The operator on Nov. 10 unveiled a country-specific site and blog to help Argentinians learn more about the benefits of betting with cryptocurrency, as well as the features that make Cloudbet a trusted leader in the world of crypto gaming: the best sports odds, the highest betting limits, a state-of-the-art bitcoin casino and a welcome bonus worth up to 5 BTC. Adding to that is Cloudbet’s world-class 24/7 live chat customer support – in Spanish – to better manage Argentine players’ inquiries.

The operator’s move into South America is part of a bold push to attract a more diverse audience to what was once a bitcoin-only product. Cloudbet relaunched its site in April with a swathe of bold new features including new coins, esports, politics betting, virtual sports and easy credit-card coin purchases.

Cloudbet grabbed the attention of industry observers in June with an ambitious English Premier League campaign, under which its sportsbook charged no margin on pre-match bets for all games left in the season. That allowed customers to access the fairest prices — and therefore the highest returns — in the market.

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The “zero margin” campaign was an extension of Cloudbet’s long-standing “best odds” campaigns on sports including soccer, basketball and tennis. The operator recently pledged to also offer best prices on competitions that Argentine sports fans follow closely, such as the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, and in next year’s Copa America.

Dai, built on the Ethereum network and underpinned by a system of smart contracts and decentralized price feeds, is designed to maintain a soft peg to the US dollar.