Originally, gambling was a state monopoly with one company, OPAP, controlling the entire market. Thanks to the recent wave of privatizations in the country, and with gambling  being very popular numerous private entities entered the market. Some popular names are Stoiximan, Pame Stoixima and Betshop.

However, while online gambling is legal and very widespread in Greek society, cryptocurrencies weren’t as successful at first. Taking into consideration the tight legal framework around them in the country, most established brands don’t accept crypto deposits and withdrawals as they didn’t have to at first. Only international brands like BWin which also have a local license are accepting them.

Following the increase of their popularity and in the meantime the increase in gambling regulations coming from the European Union which reduced the quality of online gambling in the country, crypto casinos in Greece became more appealing to. Moreover, with a large increase in the influx of tourists, many of whom wish to gamble with cryptos during their holidays, another reason appeared for crypto casinos to look closer into the small Balkan nation’s gambling habits and preferences.

Licensing in Greece

Gambling in Greece, online and offline, are controlled and regulated from the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) which was originally funded as Hellenic Gambling Commission in 2004 but got its final name in 2012. It’s an independent administrative Authority with its own legal personality. It’s subject to Greek law which is in turn subject to European law and this is particularly important for cryptocurrencies. 

In 2019, the Greek government introduced the Gambling Reform Act as part of an investment strategy to encourage more investors into the country. The new bill imposed new gambling restrictions, limits, and allowed license holders to offer RNG-powered casino games. For instance, online operators can only offer games to players over the age of 21+, and the maximum prize limit per gaming session is €5,000. That said, sports wagers can yield wins up to €500,000.

OPAP, the formerly state-owned company which controlled all gambling activities, is still active but with numerous competitors now. The cost of acquiring a HGC license is estimated to be 3 million Euros for online sports betting and a further 2 million Euros for other online games. What’s more, is that HGC licenses are valid for seven years rather than five years. In addition to that, the different language and gaming habits of Greeks make a legal entry in the market difficult and risky.

Licenses are required not only from operators but also affiliate websites. Any gambling affiliates website for the Greek market needs to have a local license and to promote only casinos with an HGC license making crypto casinos presence in the country even more difficult. In addition, HGC license holders are subject to a 35% tax charge on gross gambling revenue and corporate tax is 20%.

Crypto gambling in Greece

Because of the country’s overall strict taxation network, cryptocurrencies took a while to become a mainstream thing like in other European countries. Despite being legal, they are subject to 15% tax and the number of crypto exchanges, ATMs or other businesses accepting cryptocurrencies remains little. This has affected their further adoption and not being accepted by local gaming authorities and many of them being blocked in the country. The solution to that for Greece-based crypto holders comes from the gray zone of online crypto gambling.

Crypto gambling in Greece is undoubtedly tricky, with the majority of casinos unavailable in the country. Most crypto casinos in Greece require the use of a VPN, however, not all of them endorse the use of one. Despite the challenges, many other crypto casinos are still available in Greece without even having to use mirror sites which some do. We will focus on presenting you with the best crypto casinos available in Greece but in some cases using a VPN might be the best option to have access to more games or to access the brand in the first place.

What to worry about?

Apart from all the standard concerns when choosing a new place to gamble like games availability, betting odds, customer support, house edge, for accessing crypto casinos based in Greece you should be careful of the gray line between an operator accepting players from a region and being available in it.

Numerous crypto casinos accept players from jurisdictions where they aren’t available. This might be to not attract wrong attention as often operators accept players from a region they shouldn’t but do so under the radar or simply because they are blocked. In the first case probably the casino doesn’t accept players from this region apart from big fishes so probably you shouldn’t open an account there. In the second case, most likely the local authorities blocked the operator because it was big enough to be noticed. In such a situation probably players from this region are safe to access the site using a VPN but should confirm with the crypto casino’s support service whether they are eligible to deposit, play and cashout from their country of residence.

Lastly, the online gambling industry has been infiltrated with a ton of scam artists and hoax websites. Due to the anonymity of crypto gambling, especially with private coins such as XMR, there is a possibility of your funds disappearing without a trace. To safeguard yourself against being ripped off by a dodgy site, we recommend only using crypto casinos in Greece with a license.

In any case, we suggest double checking with us or other online forums where players share their experience as to what happened and you can make your own conclusions.

Criteria

Finding the top crypto casino in Greece or any other country requires taking into account a few criteria before adding a brand in our list. During our selection process we emphasized on certain features and rejected crypto casinos which don’t fit.

We reviewed tens of casinos and concluded thanks to the criteria below: 

• Provably Fair Gameplay/Live Casino: Finding an online crypto casino to cater your tastes isn’t easy and after you do so, you have to make sure its a trusted brand where you can deposit your Bitcoins or Altcoins and not worry about being scammed. To make sure of that, we make sure the crypto casinos we recommend all offer provably fair gaming.

• Licensing: Because HGC licenses don’t cover crypto casinos, we will have to look into licenses from other regions. Priority will be given to EU licenses like MGA from Malta which are considered pretty robust.  

• Languages: First, we have to make sure our crypto casinos offer Greek as both a UI language but also for customer support. Because Greek is a niche language, any casino which does have it available, will for sure offer English and quite possibly German, Russian and other common European languages.

• Reputation: We always recommend casinos which have a good reputation among the crypto community that we confirm on established Forums and social media. In this case, we will also look into what’s being said in Greek gambling communities.

• House Edge/ RTP:  The Return-to-Player (RTP) is one of most crucial criterias in any casino review and collection. Making sure players are rewarded as they should be and being able to confirm that percentage will be taken into account.

• User Experience: While it’s an essential part, user experience is difficult to define. For us, ease of creating an account and accessing the game lobby, customer support is probably the most important and last but not least ease of payments, both deposits and withdrawals, always using cryptocurrencies. 

• Bonuses: Adding to the aforementioned house edge and UX, bonuses are very important for a fun gambling experience. How often a crypto casino gives players bonuses, what type of bonuses and under what terms and conditions will be looked into closely.

• Country and language availability: For pure crypto casinos it is very difficult to acquire a Hellenic gambling license and the HGC is very strict with that blocking any casino available in the Greek market. Therefore, we will make sure that any crypto casino suggestions not only accept players based in Greece but are also not blocked from the local authorities as of yet. Otherwise, we will clearly mention it and offer ways to deal with it. We will also look into the availability of the Greek language.

Top crypto casinos for Greece-based players

Finally the moment of truth has arrived. After thorough research, iPlayCrypto presents the top Crypto Casinos for Greek players.

BC.Game|Top Crypto gambling product 

BC.Game is widely considered one of the top crypto casinos and sportsbooks. That’s thanks to its all-round offering package. Casino with live dealers, betting and lotteries accompanied by popular crypto games, including the brand new Up vs Down game and provably fair games, regular promotions and a generous VIP club. 

The site’s design is pretty neat with the colors of dark gray and green dominating giving a mysterious but fun feeling. Moreover, the casino’s interface is nice to navigate and relaxing for the eye. Also, free prize games like ‘Lucky Spin” with rewards up to 1 BTC make BC.Game even more appealing for new players.

Its reputation isn’t as great as it used to be but the fact BC.Game has partnered with the Argentinian Football Association and is in fact one of the biggest sponsors of the world champions adds greatly to the brand’s popularity worldwide and guarantees trustworthiness. The house edge sits around 3.9% on average.

Registering at the casino is fairly straightforward, all a player needs to do is provide an email address or cell phone number from their region and create an account. BC.Game’s impressive integration system also allows new players to directly sign up through their MetaMask, Telegram, Google, Wallet Connect, Whatsapp, and Line accounts. Let’s not forget about the four-tiered deposit bonus of up to 360% awaiting your first deposit.

Speaking of deposits, there are over 100cryptocurrencies available on BC.Game including BTC, ETH, ATOM, TRX, BNB, CRO and XRP. Fiat deposit methods are a few including Visa, MasterCard, Mifinity, Sofort, Giropay and SEPA payments. Furthermore, newbies to the crypto world can purchase their first cryptos via BC.Game using MoonPay, a safe and popular solution for crypto casinos.

Vave|Best Greek localisation

This one is for the Greeks. All the crypto casinos listed on iPlayCrypto are considered by our team good to try at least once. Then it’s up to the player to decide. The main reason we picked Vave is because it has probably the best localized product in the market. The Greek language can seem bizarre to an outsider and to market a casino in the market simply translating text isn’t enough. To save money many operators try exactly that and the result is poor at best if not funny. Vave has succeeded avoiding that and should be recognized.

Continuing, Vave’s product is pretty solid with numerous casino and live dealer games alongside crypto games. Its sportsbook is also good with big markets in sports and eSports and a house edge of 4.6%.

On the pros for Vave are the payment options. There are nine different cryptocurrencies available supplemented from a few exchanges they have partnered with to facilitate players purchase cryptocurrencies. So with the help of exchanges like Lunu, Changelly, CoinMama, Binance and others to the deposit options we can add Visa, MasterCard, Moonpay, ApplePay and a few more.

Signing up at this Greek crypto casino is an instant process. Similar to other sites, players will need to fill in an email address, nickname, and password. There are no hidden KYC requirements after registering and the site is VPN-friendly! In addition, there’s also a premium seven-tiered VIP Program with higher betting limits and weekly rewards.

Unfortunately, there is no live support available and all queries must be sorted via email which can be slow. However, the casino is translated into Greek and offers a generous 100% deposit bonus of up to 1BTC for first-time registrants.

Cloudbet|Best Sportsbook

Cloudbet is the most established crypto brand in our list with presence since 2013. Its reputation has experienced a few drawbacks during its lifespan but Cloudbet’s emphasis on the crypto community has made a difference. As it can be seen in Cloudbet’s BitcoinTalk thread and other forum posts, the operator usually tries to address potential wrongdoings from their side, helping immensely with their reputation. 

Moreover, they regularly upgrade their product having one of the most modern interfaces in the market. Their casino offering is solid with approximately 3000 games available and provably fair gamers too. The crypto casino is also  known for some of the biggest crypto jackpots won from very lucky players ever.

Nevertheless, the main reason to pick Cloudbet is its sportsbook. Find over 35 sports betting options available with live statistics and analytics for every match. Its sportsbook wouldn’t necessarily be complete without a wide selection of eSports betting options like CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, Rainbow Six, and more. To top it all off, their regular house edge sits around 2.5% but they often run “0% House Edge” promotions on selected events so keep an eye out for that.

Cloudbet is fully translated and localized for the Greek market but doesn’t offer Greek-speaking support at the moment. That said, crypto gambling in Greece couldn’t get any better with over 30+ different payment methods accepted at Cloudbet, plus it also accepts fiat currencies. What’s more, is that a player’s first deposit is matched by 100% up to a gigantic 5 BTC.

Last but not least, Cloudbet has managed to gain the reputation of being a high rollers crypto casino thanks to increased betting limits they offer. To access that a player should first gain a VIP status but even without so, the average betting limits offered are higher than most crypto casinos making Cloudbet an ideal destination for crypto whales.

CryptoLeo|Best User Interface

CryptoLeo is still making a name for itself but a brief way to describe it would be “so far so good". Most players’ feedback is positive and they seem to be constantly upgrading their product adding new games, new coins or updating their design. 

Greek players can find a variety of games at CryptoLeo including table games, card games, provably fair games, slots, live casino games, poker games, and more. There’s also a sportsbook and esports available, however, the bookie’s edge of 3.75% isn’t the most impressive we’ve come across.

As a new crypto casino, CryptoLeo depositing options are rather limited. It only accepts 10 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Cardano, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Tron, USD Tether, BNB, BUSD, and XRP. There are also the alternatives of Visa, Mastercard, SEPA, and ApplePay to purchase Kryptos. However, this Greek crypto casino rewards new registrants with a 150% deposit bonus of up to 3000 USDT plus an additional 250 free spins!

But what makes CryptoLeo one of the best Greek crypto casinos is its interface and design. Everything is clean and dark blue is the color dominating the site giving it a relaxing feeling. All buttons are clear and easy to click on, and unlike other brands, there isn’t this feeling of too much info on one page. 

The casino is also available on desktop or mobile browser versions which means you can play anywhere in Greece with an internet connection. In addition, all the games play smoothly without any interruptions and we should mention CryptoLeo is 100% translated and localized for the Greek market.

22Bet|Best Mobile App

Founded in 2017, 22Bet is what we would call a hybrid casino accepting both fiat and crypto payments. It's primarily a fiat-first casein but it also allows players to transact with 30 of the top cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, it has put in the hard work to become one of the best mobile app crypto casinos in Greece and carries a good reputation in the gambling community.

It’s known for its sportsbook with over 50 traditional sporting markets, esports, and virtual sports. Bookies can choose between 6 different sporting odds and there’s a low house edge of only 2.75%. If players aren’t really into the sporting market, it also has a great casino and live casino offering. Lotteries and crypto games are also part of the game.

Its bonus offering is also strong with welcome offers, free bets, daily and weekly promotions. The casino welcome bonus is a 100% deposit match up to 300 Euros with a 1 Euros minimum deposit requirement and a steep x50 wager requirement. Similarly for betting the offer is 100% deposit match up to 12 2 Euros with 1 Euro minimum deposit requirement and a x5 wager requirement.

Last but not least, an effective support service is imperative for any crypto casino. CryptoLeo understands the importance of resolving any customer disputes and has included an extensive FAQ section where customers can get all the answers to their questions. If that’s not enough, there’s also customer support service through 24/7 live chat and email.

Overall, 22Bet is available in over 60 languages and Greek is one of them. What separates it from most brands is, like CryptoLeo, the availability of a mobile app making gambling from your phone a much smoother and fun experience.

Gamdom|Best support

Gamdom was founded back in 2016 and has risen in popularity due to its instant payment options. It’s highly rated as one of the safest Greek crypto casinos with a safety index of 9.8 out of 10. Naturally, it’s licensed under the laws of Curaçao and offers a thrilling collection of 3000 traditional casino games. However, it must be said that the casino is predominantly recognized for sports and esports betting.

A special feature of the site is its in-house Gamdom Original games such as Dice, Hilo, Roulette, and Crash. These games are provably fair and allow players to verify every bet's outcomes as transparently as possible, which ensures that players aren’t being ripped off from the casino.

As we mentioned earlier, Gamdom is well known for offering instant deposits and withdrawals. The casino supports several payment methods including fiat and cryptocurrencies. However, its collection of cryptos is limited to BTC, ETH, USDT, TRX, XRP, and LTC.

It is however fully translated and localized for the Greek market. Gamdom doesn’t offer a stunning welcome offer but a 15% instant Rakeback for 7 days, and up to 60% Rakeback which might seem poor to some but it aims to attract high-rollers. That combined with no maximum withdrawal limits in cryptos, it suggests this will be a good option for whales. 

On the negative side of things, while Gamdom accepts Greece-based players, their site is often blocked from local authorities and using a VPN is required. This can make loading the casino platform or sportsbook a bit slow. It can be annoying if you are pretty anxious to bet.

MegaPari|Best Collection of Payment Methods

Megapari started its operation back in 2019. Since then, it’s maintained an excellent reputation and is well-liked for its high sports betting odds, collection of diverse casino games, and instant payouts. More importantly, it holds a Costa Rican gambling license and offers crypto gambling in Greece.

Megapari’s homage page is dedicated to a wide variety of sports, virtuals, and esports betting options. Its sportsbook offers 96% higher odds than other competitors with a low house edge of just over 3% on selected matches. Bookies can bet on in-play or scheduled matches with live statistics and the option to cash out during a match.   

For players who prefer to chance their hand at the casino, Megapari offers just about everything. There are over 5000 traditional casino games including Slots, Live Casino, Provably Fair Games, Crash Aviator, Bonus Wagering, Hot Games, Jackpot Games, and Roulette. In addition, there is a MegaGames category that offers games with a higher coefficient.

What stands out at Megapari is the wide variety of supported payment methods on the platform. It offers over 50 different depositing methods and there are 25 different cryptocurrencies available to use, the more popular are BTC, USDT (ERC20, TRC20, BEP20, SOL, AVAX C-Chain), LTC, ETH, and DOGE.  Furthermore, joining the site only requires a corresponding email address or mobile number, and some personal information.  

First-time registrants receive a welcoming deposit bonus of 130% of up to 1,500 Euros plus an extra 150 free spins! And it only takes a few minutes for a player deposit to reflect! Crypto gambling in Greece couldn’t be any smoother.