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When looking to sign up to a crypto sportsbook or casino I often take comfort from the fact they have a license. However, I've never actually looked into what those licenses mean. So I did a bit of digging and found out some very interesting information.

The licenses basically mean nothing!

I looked at 4 different licenses; Curacao, Malta, Costa Rica and Montenegro.

The vast majority of operators have the Curacao license which has a cost of around $36,000 as a one-off upfront payment, then it’s $6,000 a month every month for the first 2 years, which is a grand total of $180,000. This license is basically the bare minimum. In fact, a condition of the license is that the operator can't operate in Curacao - which should speak volumes.

BetBTC is the only sportsbook to have a Costa Rica license. Although this "license" is basically just a company registration.

Cloudbet is the only sportsbook to have a Montenegro license. This is the only license which does carry a bit of weight, so fair play to Cloudbet. It costs around $390,000 and does have a regulatory body which will look into your complaints.

The Malta license as it’s too expensive and too much work for a bit of paper that carries no real weight or protection for players.

If you're interested, you can read the full report I wrote here:
https://bitedge.com/blog/crypto-gambling-licenses/

Do you think someone needs to offer a legit crypto gambling license to give consumers more protection? Or are we ok where we are know?

Disclaimer: A lot of these sportsbooks and casinos have operated for years and have integrity. Having signed up and played at a lot of them, I've very rarely if ever had any issues. This is purely just to show you what lies behind the licenses they have.

Gambling licenses are a form of giving permission so that they can be held accountable if at any time their legality is questioned.
When a gambling site cannot grant a license, it results in a low level of trust. Then why do you feel useless with the gambling site's license?
Isn't the license very important to determine if the activity on it will guarantee that the site has quality?

Strange ain't it? Not bad for a country who only wants to earn from licensing with no headache from chasing online gamblers and operators within their jurisdiction. I also asked about this last year https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5281303.0

If more protection means KYC and other types of verification for a crypto casino then it will be shunned. The gambling platforms here understand that very well that's why they only get license from jurisdictions that doesn't prohibit a lot of countries.

You can read the sentiment of players here in my other topic about gambling license https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5279285.0
Majority of the responders doesn't really mind if the online casino is licensed or not.

I believe it's still too expensive for Curacao license, maybe it's for "master license" holder. AFAIK the casino doesn't have to use a master license, but they can use a sub license. Curacao sub license is so cheap hence many less bonafide online casino can get it rather easily.

I've gone through the process of getting a couple gaming licenses, and I agree with your premise. They're all bullshit and most are just a way for the regulator to make some money, and often the whole gaming regulation is prop'd up by the established gaming companies as a way to increase the barrier to entry. And even the rare jurisdiction that cares about the "fairness" of your game never actually audits to have any level of assurances that are doing what you claim you're doing.

FWIW Costa Rica isn't a license, rather their laws don't prohibit you operating an online casino (as long as you're not serving Costa Ricans).


The only good thing, I'd say, is they prove the entity spent a fair bit of money on the process, so they're probably not a fly-by-night operation. And if they ever did scam you, you'd have some level of recourse through the legal system to try get their identity and take them to court.

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That said, the vast majority of casinos aren't in the business of screwing their customers. The odds are already in the houses' favor. My advice is to find an online casino with a good reputation, and just totally ignore any gaming license nonsense. And be your own auditor. Play at provably fair casinos, and actually make an effort to check the results.

+1

Some weird things, Curacao who gives the license not doing anything while there has some problem on the casino itself. IMO, it's just like they give every business license without moderated all of them for customer protection. So, even a scam casino still can get some license as long they are paid "Curacao" to create a license for them to make it legit ;D

This was the main problem when it comes to moderating on how legit the site is. It is just been part of the mindset of the majority that once a certain gambling site or any platform do get its license then they would be automatically considered to be legit and trustable which I can say that this had been the standard when it comes to personal views which I cant really blame off.In all honesty then I don't see the point or it isn't really actually necessary to have this because there are platforms out there which are legit and giving out their best service without necessarily having these licenses.

I admit that I don't know anything about gambling licenses, so thanks for making this thread even though there are already old threads that talk about this matter.  I also notice that very few also first check if a casino is licensed to operate before they play and deposit.  But I think it's just very important as a requirement and it needs to be there in physical casinos and pure online fiat gambling sites.  You would probably be more reassured if you knew the identity of the owner of crypto gambling sites like Stake.  I have also read a lot that even if they have a license, they can commit scams and those who issue licenses are not able to help customers.  So the others just look more at the reputation and reviews of the majority whether licensed or not.  So the risk is not lost and you should always be prepared.

So there is a chance for a small-time crook to actually operate a casino by just buying a $36,000 Curacao license. Making it a bit legit and a private label website filled with games and a bit of money for promotion I guess he is good to go. It's the promotion that will make him spend more.  It's a good business if he can build a reputation then.  Why do they have different prices to acquire licenses?

I thought people are all aware that these gambling casinos do not care about protecting their players. I mean isn't it a fact? As far as I know, there is only a slight difference between unregulated and regulated casinos.

Seeing most of the regulated casinos' terms of service usually can force close or ban your account for whatever reason while the license does not provide any protection for their casinos' clients at all.

The only thing that most of the casinos have these licenses is that perhaps they are planning to expand their business to other countries such as the UK as well as to have access to popular game providers. You are playing with gambling sites not because of the certainty for security that a gambling license can offer but for avoiding legal matters when the casino has expanded in the process.

It is our responsibility to check their ToS, support chat, and learn how to verify the "provably fair" algorithm to reduce the amount of risk we're going to take and not the license itself.

Master license mainly applies if the casino plans to issue licenses to its own subsidiaries or related entities. The ones we see would mainly go with sublicense for obvious reasons.

Most of crypto betting websites I know have Curacao betting license and that is better than having no license, but license is just one part in the big picture of using betting websites.
You should look at customer support, how deposits and withdrawals work, available markets with odds, and I think that Sportsbet and Stake are on top for now.
I never heard of Montenegro license but it costs $390,000 and it's more expensive than licenses from all other countries.

Exactly! License maybe one factor to consider and sometimes you will feel confident to use it if they have license especially if you are dealing with new casino. But for some established casinos here that have no license, they can still get the players because of their reputation they have built throughout the years. A casino with no complaints is also a big plus with active customer support.

Whatever the licence a Casino holds is a way to gain trust among the users. Gaining reputation is the most important with the gambling platforms. Along with the same the gambling site owners need the mind to serve and not to cheat. I state this based on the licensing every site holds.

Everyone used to state a site holding Curacao license as a big thing, but anyone who has got money can get a license incorporating some business. In my view rather than the licensing it is the team and the authority that is important with a gambling platform.

Whether the licenses are expensive, I don't think it matters since it's obvious that are just there to fulfill all righteousness. Tbh, I've never checked out a gambling license m not that I care much about it. What I'm more concerned about is, if their platform is good with little to no complains from users then I'm in. 
There are always variations to stuffs like this. Or maybe it's just that those expensive licenses come with some added perks that might be beneficial to either the casino team or the users.

That’s the reference every gambler is looking for, if you have a licensed then you have a higher chance to get more gamblers into your platform, and if none don’t expect that much. Even if there’s no regulations that license can still be a big help especially if experience a scam from those sites, you know where you are heading. The purpose of that License is to operate legally as much as possible and to gain the trust of many.

In crypto-gambling, a site having a license is not really a must for me. I'm more of being reputable and true to their customers.

Before there is no mention of these licenses but some crypto-gambling sites successfully work their way up to be reputable.

For new sites, maybe that's the time I will consider using them only if they have a license. Just to ensure that the site is might be serious on their operation. But not to take it as an assurance that the site will not goes into scam later on.

There are actually quite a lot of casinos in the cryptospace that are obviously completely untrustworthy and have a disgusting track record, yet have licenses and drawing people in that way.

This is really well put by OP - licenses mean absolutely zero. Nothing. Nada.

The countries you can get licenses from are so lax with their rules that it's shows you absolutely nothing. And the countries where licenses are strict and actually mean something never hand out licenses to crypto casinos.

There have been plenty of legitimate dice sites without a gaming license too - PD in the early days and JD are good examples.

Well it definitely says something about how they want to start up the business. Even if licenses are actually just complete bs, the act of spending for it vs the act of not spending for it gives volumes on whether a casino actually wants to run properly or not, though in the end, that's just one step. It takes time really, for casinos to actually build up a reputation and for users to actually trust it. Licenses are in the end, just a method for casinos to show their sincerity maybe? And to avoid all the bothersome rules that countries have set up, basically following a framework (which is most probably imaginative) to have some sort of foundation with their reputation.

The reason why more sites opt for license is mainly for potential income off casino games which is increasingly popular and of course, to comply with them regulatory red tapes.

Even if a site is legit with its provably fair system, a license helps in case there's some suspicions/ allegations involved.


Just like unscrupulous yet legit business entities, casinos are no different.

It is still important to have license, because that is where you can get the information if in case the casino will disappear. They submitted documents to the gambling license authority, and it can be given to police authorities in case they screw their clients. It is okay to play in a casino without gambling license if they are already established in the community. But mostly, for newcomers, it is better to acquire license in order for them to attract players.

Well indeed its a plus point for a casino to have a license, but it doesnt mean a casinos that has a license are automatically trusted and safe for gamblers to play. Certainly there's an advantages for gambling sites if they obtain a license but its not an assurance that the site is fair, not bias and not scam.

A gambler's experience is still the reliable way to say if the gambling site can be trusted regardless if it has license or not. You can get license if you have the money to pay for it, but it takes time, effort and trust to build a good reputation.

I guess the license can give protection for their members that the casino is legal and they do not have to worry about the problem that might happen in the future.
The license can give trust to the members because I think before the casino gets the license, they need to verify themselves with the gambling authorities.
But to be honest, if the casino is launch from here, I would not thinking much about the license because I am sure that the casino here does not want to give a problem to their members.
So maybe that will help you to identify the casino that you found out there so you do not get a scam by them.

I think I get what OP said I've seen a lot of gambling sites that turned into a scam and even though they have license it won't stop them from scamming users the only worst thing that happened to those website were just closed but I don't think its worth it since I think gambling license will cost a lot of money and instead of scamming for 1 time it's much profitable if they just do fair business.

Yes, we are talking about the license of gambling sites but how can we know or validate if the license logo on their casino website is valid?

What are the steps these license providers take to get a casino to pass before they issue it?  Like recognizing the true identity of the owner?  Or maybe just having money to pay is fine.

As much as I want to agree it's hard to assume that all people are aware since there's always new gamblers coming in and some of them will always have different views on the casinos they play based on experience.

I guess what OP is trying to say is that you can't always rely on these gambling licenses because there are licensed casinos that can still scam you. The fees is probably not that big of a deal to most casinos since they have the house edge. In the end the casino's reputation will always be more important compared to their license.

Well, that will depend on what you think about the crypto gambling license and if they think that the crypto gambling license means nothing, that will be up to you. We do not have to force them to use crypto gambling with a license if they do not want because I think some crypto casinos do not have licenses, but they can serve better than the crypto casino with a license. So no matter if the crypto gambling site has a license or not, as long as they can give the best services and not scam people, that will be no problem.

While I do agree with the points that you raised, I think having a gambling license makes the website legit as they have an established license to operate.

Assuming that you are a newbie hoping to gamble some crypto/money, then you stumble upon two gambling websites where one has a license and the other has none, chances are that the person would choose the former.

While at paper it may seem nothing, but the confidence and trust that it provides to new users can be quite reassuring. But like what you have mentioned, the safest bet would probably to gamble on online gambling websites that have been around for a couple/several years already as they have established their presence in the industry.

I did not know how much they actually paid for the license. I knew it was costly but this price, it would make the small companies suffer so much. During covid how hard would it be to pay this much. The initial investments that the companies might have to make far exceeds the number they would make in a month. That's the reason why most of the gambling companies, they break down at the end. Many of them are also involved in scams too. The casinos need to keep up to date and invest a lot more in advertising. What's more shocking is seeing how much money a well renown casino actually makes.
You can see the numbers and tell how hard it would be to trust a new casino.

I am one of those who voted, that I don't mind if the online casino is licensed or not, as long as the site is reputable, one example of a gambling site that has a Curacao license but scamming so many people is 1xbit, the license is not a guaranty that you are safe from playing because they will do everything to keep their license if you have that mindset you are in deep trouble and will not read reviews and will just go for gambling site with license showing in their homepage.

I read that OP has mentioned of the fees that casinos have to provide to get a license, are about big money and for a new casino with a small investment value, it will definitely be difficult to get a license because of limited funds.
I myself not too concerned about that and consider it very important because I am not a player who will easily move from one casino to another. So license for the Casino has become other way to earn money from gambling industries.

They are an insurance for your business, the employees and yourself as an employer in the case of a lawsuit and it also adds legitimacy to your business because that means that you aren't unlikely to cheat your customers out of their money.

This has basically nothing at all to do with the company insuring itself and its employees, what should be insured by this? You can be sued despite a license just as easily as without one.

However, a license allows you to open casinos in countries that are stricter in terms of requirements. For example, some countries explicitly require a license from the UK, as this is the most difficult to obtain.

A simple Google search about the importance of business license lead me to this link (https://www.google.com/amp/s/bmmagazine.co.uk/in-business/advice/importance-business-registration-licensing/%3famp). Also, if you are licensed, that also means that your business won't be hassled by the authorities since you have some license to show for.

It is quite expensive for the casino to pay to be able to get a license, therefore it does require large capital to build a casino. That's why I prefer
to use a casino that does have a license, because the casino is serious about running its business. Casinos that dare to spend big enough to get
a casino license do plan to maintain their reputation. While casinos that cannot afford the license fee, logically the casinos are not serious about
running their business seriously. So based on my experience casinos that have a license are much more trusted.

I think OP wants more benefits on having a license in gambling (if you're an owner) or if you're playing in a licensed online casino. A license basically means they are legally allowed to operate in a certain country, and give their customers the fullest security and assurance they need to trust the said online casino.

Having a license is a big impact on their morale, because they could easily attract players, depositing money on them without having any second thoughts. Also, a license is a way to prevent a scam for both parties, just in case an online casino scams you, the authorities know who to catch and where they should find them and file the legal cases on them.

maybe for the two license only because you dont write a nice description of what those license are for do but for the other two they have a purpose but is it true that curacao and malta are useless ? and why would someone pay them that high .
 it was easy money for the owner of the license company .

i dont check if some of the gambling site that i play have license but so far i dont experience a major problem with them .
its ok if they will get a license or not

That's your opinion and we respect that, but having a license will not and cannot stop scammers from scamming their players
1XBIT has an operating license and yet they are the biggest scammers in the gambling industry, and the license issuer did not yet revoke their license, this is one proof that reputation carries more weight than a license.

I don't really understand why these licenses only cover the bare minimum of what's expected from license providers. They basically are just some acting officials on an industry that can thrive even without them. Perhaps gambling platforms taking their license from the 4 mentioned ones think those would make them look like legitimate companies when in fact, even platforms with such licenses can basically fuck everyone in the ass if they wanted to.

I'd say if the platform has a proven track record of positive service and nothing but positive reviews, even without a license, use those. Licenses aren't really necessary on this particular industry IMO, and it's really just a badge displayed by some platforms saying "hey I'm legit, use me" and that's it.

If they mean nothing, then why do the authorities look for this first when they are doing an inspection to a business and I think that a crypto gambling website isn't an exemption to that.

As I see, crypto casinos usually use the Curacao license because it's cheap and easy to maintain + you only pay 2% tax of your net profits. Also, right now, more than 90% of crypto casinos have Curacao license and it's very usual for gamblers to see, it almost turned into a tradition. I have even seen players who were at some point amazed by not seeing Curacao license and were asking whether the website was legit or not. yeah, really!

To say the truth, the license doesn't matter that much nowadays, certain licenses are acquired for certain benefits. What matters the most is the honesty of casino. There are great casinos like: Stake, Bitsler, Sportsbet and others that have Curacao license but they are leaders in the crypto industry and have gained enormous trust, popularity and profit. I doubt there is another sportsbook with more "trusted" license but as popular and trustworthy as Sportsbet.io

License is an important thing to have, because casinos with licenses are certainly more guaranteed legality and this is actually one of the filters
to choose platforms that are safe to use. Licensing is also a way for the government to control the gambling industry, so casinos that have a license
usually have a tax obligation and this is actually a good thing to do. So reducing the risk of scams, the license is not something to be underestimated.

A license won't stop gambling from robbing you, but it will help identify who owns and help local authorities look for thieves if an investigation is opened.
I believe, however, that today this doesn't help much, as Curaçao companies (for example) intermediate several processes for acquiring licenses from other companies located in many countries, everything is just a bureaucratic process in which the sole purpose is to collect fees for the government and these intermediation companies.

This still helps a little, as not every scammer will want to open a gambling site, spend it to license it, and then run a scam.

I have myself never looked for the license for any gambling sites because the reputation of any gambling site is only proved by it's genuinity over the period of time.
Even I think a license does not provide any usecase other than showing itself as a legal entity. But it's always good to have a license requirement to operate a casino or gambling site so that the fraudsters at least have some kind of barrier to operate it. If there had not been a license required to operate a casino then the amount of scam casinos and gambling sites would have been increased a lot.

Many countries now requires license to operate especially during Pandemic to keep their economy growing and since almost all transactions were into online now. It is already risky now to do gambling so atleast in the casino we will be playing it lessen the burden when it's registered and have liscensed since we know we have someone to run too. But its hassle so better read, research the casino we're playing with.

True on the real definition of license but the OP is stating about the available license for online casino that he mention. I don't fully agree nor disagree since I never experience to file an actual complaint to license operators but he is just pointing out how this licence cannot protect user in case there will be a complaint rising since as you can see when read the content, License like Curacao prohibits there license on there own country casino as per OP.

Since there's a question if a certain site should be supported or not, with or without a license, then just decide to ourselves if we want to support a certain site.

We should already know the risk that keeping money on a third-party site is already at risk. Now for the trust issues, then rely and consider our set of criteria before putting money on the site.

As for me, will stick to the reputable ones if it's about service. For testing new sites, I'm not that strict in terms of their license but I will test them based on what my DYOR tells me.

That's a very interesting insight into the world of casino licenses and kinda shows how much money these mega online casinos must be raking in if they're able to front those sort of licenses. I'd love to know how many prosecutions related to gambling fraud have taken place in those jurisdiction or how many licenses have been revoked after being issued (due to scam behavior by the license holder). It feels like with most places you are at the mercy of the actual owner, who admittedly has a strong incentive to keep their cash machine running smoothly, if there are ever any problems. I doubt there is much difference you'd get between a non-regulated operation based in Costa Rica with a supposedly "regulated" operation like Curacao.

Sure thing, I've never checked whether the casino is licensed or not, there are far more important things to consider, such as provably fair, reviews, software, content, bonuses, etc.

It's almost the same as a patent. The idea can be pretty shitty in its nature, but they still will give you a patent as long as you pay the money and follow some basic rules, like don't steal anyone else's idea, be new and offer potential industrial applicability.

Considering that these licenses cost thousands of $, but basically don't mean anything to customers (I don't think that this is the kind of stuff people pay attention to), many legit casinos don't bother buying and maintaining them.

Dont really care too when it comes to licenses or whatsoever as long there are lots people playing then that what matter most or does count because reputation cant really be based up if youre a licensed business but its part of reality that having one would really be already a plus or make out impression that they had been regulated which means they are legit and good ones but it doesnt really take out the risk on running off peoples funds so when it comes to risk
then it would really be just the same a licensed one or not but in overall having one would really a plus because impressions of having a license is totally
different based up on personal feeling and view.

Really?
Could it be a personal opinion only about this?
If you have two choices of the gambling platform:
- One is with licenses
- Another is without a license
What will you choose as the first platform to play gambling?
yeah, the license may not guarantee that the platform is legit. But at least, by registering in any license, they are serious to build and develop the platform, at least, they make the base foundation with something that is licensed and also under a law or regulation in some countries where a bookie or gambling platform must have a gambling license.
And this will also increase the reputation than they don't.
And of course, there are also some other things to consider besides license.
but, personally, I don't agree that a license means anything.

New sites don't have any proven track record. Users don't have any reviews to look at if they want to play on that new site. Even with good bonuses and promotions, it's hard to attract new users to the platform.

That's where license plays a role. If a new site registered on a license, they can somehow show that their service is legit and no way they will risk the name for a small-time scam. I'd rather see new sites today having a license.

Especially if we are talking about newly built websites.

By having a license, it means that they are serious about building their names. The team behind that newly built sites is not running in the shadow as their personal identities will be asked as part of getting the license just as what other business is doing too.

More comfortability to newbies if the site is licensed. But I will suggest newbies to just try the gambling sites that already made a name for assurance.

License is not a big deal before so some sites were able to operate without it and reach the stage of being famous.

But with lots of scams happened and crypto-casinos are not regulated, getting a license will at least give a site some professional look as they are following the rules that a gambling site should have.

It's not an assurance that we are safe playing at licensed casinos but it's better to play at those instead of nothing in a random sites.

I guess crypto gambling licenses are mostly coming from Curacao and a few other places because it is where they allow crypto gambling businesses. Other countries may not allow crypto gambling. Aside from that, the requirements may be too expensive if a crypto gambling is to register one's operation somewhere else. Not to mention that it may have a lot of requirements. We have to understand that businesses prefer a cheaper and easier way to acquire a license.

Curacao is their choice because it's the cheapest a casino owner could acquire. If they chose Montenegro Casino license, it's going to cost $390,000 so it's more sensible for a casino to just chose a Curacao license which is just $36,000 and it could operate anywhere like there will be no difference between licenses.

Is there any casino that's very popular in crypto yet no license?

A lot of these licensed casinos are known to do surprise KYC and other dodgy things to hinder players from cashing out large amounts. I prefer unlicensed casinos because they don't ask too many questions. If they have a good reputation then I know it is safe to trust them with a decent amount of money but I would never deposit anything greater than a few hundred dollars regardless of being licensed or unlicensed.

There is only one casino I know that is famous without a license, none other than freebitco.in.  We know that it only started as a bitcoin faucet until it was augmented with game features such as provably fair and various types of sports betting and price predictions.  So having a license is not a basis to say that a site is legitimate and trustworthy.

That's the point because even those who claims that they have license in the end becomes scammer or cheating their players so what is the sense of licensing if they are not truthful in their objectives?

and also there are sites that uses this license to pretend as legitimate site to lure bg time gamblers and when they attract them already as time goes by they are ending not to be fair and good site.

I think having a license assures the consumer/users that they have nothing to worry about because they are a licensed business meaning that they can be prosecuted by the law if there's something that they do that can tarnish their reputation.

So if members have a problem and the casino does not solve the problem, they can report to the authorities and investigate the problem.
Yes, they can punish the casino if the casino has proven to do something wrong and even the authorities can drag their license back.
For a reputable casino, having a license will give trust to their members because they will seriously take care of their members and give them the best services.

In as much as gamblers interest has to be protected license should be a prerequisite. But I wonder why it should be that expensive most especially that of Malta while Curacao tend to make theirs a bit cheaper are there any difference in services or is there any other added advantage for the high rate to obtaining a license?

I have no idea but I doubt a crypto casino would become very popular if it does not have a license in the first place. A license may not be a guarantee that a casino would play it fair, but at the very least a license could somehow assure players that the casino has a certain amount of accountability for their business, that the casino is legally operating.

Also, if an unlicensed crypto casino becomes popular for its services, I guess they would also consider getting a license for its growing gambling business.

License to be honest is one of the major things that players are looking for in terms of security. Since most casinos chose Curacao, I see nothing wrong with it. Instead of not having any license, Curacao still provides security although it's cheaper than other licenses. Players would still prefer licensed casinos rather than unprotected ones.

What lies behind the licensing implemented towards the gambling operations on different countries, all I knew was all about money and greed. Authorities who handled the review on a certain gambling of cryptocurrency, tend to be blinded by power, that's why when it comes to expediting of licence processing I believed that additional information underground money was involved in reality.

Maybe the expensive license can give them more protection for the members, so they need to use that license. We might not know what the advantage or differences of each license are. As long as the casino has a license, the members should not worry about anything worst that can happen to them while playing at that casino. The license can also help the casino attract more gamblers to play because the license is the important thing that the casino should have.

Yeah, I also think so. Although it doesn't guarantee, at least, they start their beginning in a serious way. Because I am pretty sure that getting a license is not as easy enough. There must be some data, T&C, and also other requirements to be fulfilled, including money maybe to get the license.

However, once more, the license doesn't guarantee that the gambling site is legit. Before playing, we must also check and analyze the site at first, reading their T&C, and also if we are going to play, just ensure to try it first by a small amount, and try to withdraw.
But personally, I will prefer to choose a reputable and trusted gambling site.

Precisely this.

Reminds me of these company registration forms that the UK company house puts out for anyone who is willing to pay a fee. It is essentially a payment for a service from the government for these casinos and not actually anything of substance. There is no actual regulatory oversight.

I've seen countless times where a casino with a license acts in bad faith, retains customer funds, and have gotten away with it by flaunting their regulatory status. This is not on.


Definitely. I think the Crypto Gambling Foundation is a good attempt at industry self-regulation, but efforts must be continued.

Hopefully countries with actual robust regulators like the U.S. can jump onboard.

Money is always included to acquire a gambling license. Let's say even if it is a Curacao license, which is not a very high standard in gambling license, still they need to submit documents as well as payment. For very small casinos, sometimes, they can't afford to acquire one and for those fly-by-night casinos, they won't consider to get one. It may not be the ultimate factor to trust a casino, but it says something about their sincerity to get their own niche in the gambling industry.

OP mentioned the gamblers perspective and not about the authorities. Casinos will always follow the necessary steps to keep their site up and running but as a gambler you can't use that license as a way to measure reputation given that it can be obtained easily by most casinos.

I agree the CGF is a good example but they focus on the provably fair algorithm.

Some casinos doesn't even have any license for years then only they are forced to go under a regulatory body, anyway all these license do anything good for the casinos along with the customers? Paying so much amount of money to get a license looks useless in my opinion anyway we will call such casinos as legit that's why they are paying for it.

Licenses could really help the reputation of crypto gambling websites. This proves that they are operating legally and less likely to scam their users. I'm sure that all of us won't want to go to a gambling casino that's been operating illegally. Having license gives confidence to players that their money won't be stolen easily. This also means that they are funded enough of their business if they have a license.

I checked on google about some of the popular websites to see if they are licensed and yes most of them are really registered with Curacao's license.

- Sportsbet is licensed as a corporate bookmaker in the Northern Territory under the Racing and Betting Act 1993 (NT).
- FortuneJack is licensed by Curacao.
- Stake is licensed by the government of Curaçao.
- Bitcasino.io are provided and regulated by Moon Technologies B.V., who are operating under the license 1668/JAZ issued to CURACAO eGAMING by the Government of Curaçao on October 1, 1996.
- Chips.gg is an online casino with Curacao license.

The only time when I actually saw one of these Gambling license entities taking action, was when Stake.com was operating a "Lucky Draw" for a Lamborghini. The license on their website was immediately disabled, until the issue was investigated.

Stake.com was not hosting a lucky draw, where they sold tickets for the Lamborghini... they basically gave tickets away for every $1000 wagered on the site.. so the gambling license was re-enabled and they continued with the giveaway.

I know Brick n Mortar gambling licenses are very legit and those casinos are audited and fined if they break any of the rules.  ;)

And given the fact that Stake is also under license from Curacao means that even with the cheap and sometimes even questionable licensing processes in Curacao, it is still a legitimate license, which means a lot to those gamblers who are seeking legality of the gambling site they are playing. Curacao licenses are sometimes treated poorly because of how cheap and easy they are accessed by gambling sites. But at least it makes these sites operate within rules.

Cheap or not that would still counts because having one would really be considered or having that impression that this is a legit casino.Those licensing wont exist on the first place if it wasn't really have
any purpose.

Yeah its true that you can really get cheaper but since this do talks about regulation or legality then that's what surely counts but of course it would really be having those cons.

Majority will really be having this kind of impression that whenever a new gambling site pops out they would be mainly looking first for licenses etc.

Because I think it's not a necessary requirement before for a crypto-gambling site where everything is anonymous. But some popular crypto-sites today do have a license as it can create another form of satisfaction and assurance to their customers that they will remain reputable.


Not useless. If a license will be a necessary requirement, most scam sites will not sure undergo it as they will submit their personal documents. Therefore, they might can't attract users to their site.

That is why getting a license means that they have started with something more serious.
Although of course, the next, the platform itself, reputation, and also all features must be also analyzed.

That's it. Although there may be some popular gambling sites that are not licensed yet, afaik, most of them are licensed.
And we can see the probabilities of scams or not also from the license. THe platform with no license may have a higher chance to be a scam.

An actual license cant be used as a benchmark that a platform will never end up being a scam. A license is defined as an absolute requirement for a platform to proclaim its brand, copyright and so on as regulated by law. It is possible that the risk can be minimized if the site is already licensed compared to one that is not. But it all depends on the intention of the site from the start.

Agree. I think we're forcing 2 different ideas here, one being registered and one being a scam. They're two separate ideas imo, and getting a license only answers to one, it's whether they are registered or not. Being a scam is a completely different issue. Registered casinos have agreed on rules and stuff of the license they got, as well as a starting point for their reputation, and that's it. A scam, on the other hand, can completely come from ANYWHERE, whether they be licensed or not. It just simply means that even if a casino is unlicensed, if it has a great reputation, then people could play on it. If it is licensed, but a bad reputation, then it's most likely a scam.

Nice explained Wxnident, people should understand that being registered doesn't automatically mean that casino is not scammy! For example, we can take two casinos Betfury and 1xBit... Betfury didn't have a licence until recently, they run the casino without any licence and there are no many complaints about that... it's not something we can say for 1xBit, they have a licence over 5 years and so many complaints!
So I would say a good reputation mean a lot more than a licence, at least in my opinion!

Nice digging from OP, I didn't have any clues about how to get a licence and how much that can cost! Interesting info definitely!

Yeah, that's not clear at all.  Yes, it does have a license to operate but is it regulated?  Or maybe they just have a license but it's not regulated.  What steps does a licensed provider take when a casino registered with their license has complaints about a scam?  Are they taking it back or is there taking action to help the gamblers involved who are having problems at the casino?  This is also what I want to know what kind of protection is provided?  Can you still say you are protected if you have been scammed?

Aren't crypto gambling license a requirement for business to be on the good terms with the law? I mean I would likely to trust a online gambling house that has license than the one that doesn't have one because they are more likely to scam people and get away with it than the licensed ones.

If you read all of my answers and replies above, you will know what I mean @ShowOff @Wexnident @iv4n. If you only read the only quoted sentence by @ShowOff, it will make you think differently from what I have said above. I have said several times that the platform with a license has started something more serious. however, it doesn't guarantee that the platform is legit. and other explanations above.
It also needs to be analyzed more than the only license.