Two Las Vegas casino hotels will become the first known U.S. commercial gambling houses to allow the use of the unregulated digital payment system, bitcoin, casino officials said on Tuesday. The co-owned Golden Gate Hotel and Casino and The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel will begin accepting bitcoins on Wednesday as payment for hotel rooms and related purchases, casino officials said in a statement. (Read more: Overstock CEO: Why we're accepting bitcoins) Bitcoin is an online currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network that is independent of central authority. The D will also accept the virtual currency at its gift shop, the American Coney Island restaurant and Joe Vicari's Andiamo Italian Steakhouse.

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"Downtown has really become a technology hub for all of Las Vegas," Derek Stevens, co-owner and chief operating officer for both casinos, told Reuters." I think it is fitting that the Golden Gate and The D are the first hotels to offer (bitcoin)." Stevens said patrons increasingly had requested to use bitcoins over the past year. By becoming the first known casino hotels to accept the virtual currency, he hoped to attract customers unable to spend bitcoins at other local businesses. (Read more: Do you reallyknow bitcoin? Here are 11 myths) "I think that this is a technology where early adopters have an advantage," he said. The casinos will install iPads at cashier stations and use the online platform BitPay to process the currency, which can be loaded into a virtual wallet and used with a mobile device.