Through a partnership with Bitcoin merchant payment processor GoCoin, the U.S.-based gambling website DerbyJackpot.com will now accept Bitcoin for betting on horse races around the country.

DerbyJackpot.com becomes the first U.S.-regulated gambling site to accept the digital currency. Bitcoin gambling websites have existed for a long time but have mostly remained in the underground economy or have blocked U.S. customers. DerbyJackpot.com will be the first place American citizens can legally gamble with bitcoin.

“Having spent the last 18 months circling the globe educating gaming and financial regulators in Europe and Southeast Asia, I’m thrilled to see the U.S. be the first to market with a legal-regulated real-money gaming site with DerbyJackpot,” said Steve Beauregard, founder and CEO of GoCoin, “And being from Maryland, I’m especially proud to see the launch on the eve of the Preakness Stakes.

“As a Bitcoin company, compliance needs to be top of mind. Our compliance team was uber impressed with the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of the DerbyJackpot compliance program, that they were a natural fit for GoCoin,” he added.

High Demand for Bitcoin Integration

DerbyJackpot.com told Bitcoin Magazine they chose to accept bitcoin due to frequent requests from customers. The integration comes during the height of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing season, one of the most active times of the year for the sport. DerbyJackpot.com users will be able to bet bitcoin on races at the Preakness this weekend, the Belmont Stakes on June 6, and hundreds of other horse races.

Launched in 2012, the gambling startup has pioneered the growing industry of online betting for horse races. According to DerbyJackpot’sCrunchBase profile, the company has raised more than $6.5 in capital and includes Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Bullpen Capital Managing Director Paul Martino among its advisers and investors.

GoCoin also provided bitcoin payments for the first regulated Bitcoin gambling website in the United Kingdom. In October of last year, the company partnered with iGaming operator Cozy Games to enable dogecoin, litecoin and bitcoin payments for the mobile gambling company’s apps. Cozy was the first regulated gambling company to accept Bitcoin in the UK and the world.