Rapper Drake Faces RICO Lawsuit for Promoting and Using Crypto Casino Stake

[Oshosondy]

Filed on December 31, 2025

The lawsuit was filed by Stake.us users LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines seeks to represent all Virginia residents that created an account on Stake.us

This consumer class action seeks to stop Stake.us—an illegal online gambling platform promoted by Drake, Ross and Nguyen, and used by Drake, Ross and Nguyen to obscure transmissions of money in furtherance of their ongoing music botting campaigns—from continuing to prey upon consumers, and to impose civil penalties on all defendants to deter future misconduct

https://decrypt.co/353654/rapper-drake-faces-rico-lawsuit-crypto-casino-stake

Is Stake.us illegal in United States? No.

Like all other social and sweepstakes casinos, not only is Stake.us legal, it's also far more widely available across the country than any online casino or sportsbook.

I am not saying they can not sue Drake but why saying Stake is illegal when it is legal and licensed.

[Perfectbaby]

To be frank I do not know why they are saying it's not legal in the United States, but however, and f the site is seen to be having illegal operations by now they could have stopped them, as I know US is a country that doesn't jokes with regulations and taxation. However, Drake have been promoting stake casino for long time now and if stake.us is seen to be illegal there wouldn't had been a day they could be running promotions and featuring some of the football clubs.

[bakasabo]

Could this be an example of "Dark" promotion? That lawsuit and whole look strange. On one side we have Drake and other, people with millions on their accounts, people who can allow army of lawyers to go through contracts and search for underwater stones. And two women (LaShawnna Ridley, Tiffany Hines) who suspect Drake, Ross and George Nguyen in money laundering through tipping, and manipulation on Spotify? Does not make any logic. For me this looks like Dark PR or someone try to speculate and earn on other people fame.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Saying that stake.us is an illegal online casino could have been as a result of misuse of speech and not what was intended because even the people that filled the lawsuit are still users of same casino (stake.us) so why call it illegal when they are also using it. From what I captured on that article you provided, the main reason for lawsuit is because "Drake used the tipping feature on the crypto casino website Stake to obfuscate money transmissions related to streaming music botting campaigns."

[acroman08]

I'm curious why they thought Stake.us is illegal in the US. That website was created and follows the gambling regulations in the US so gamblers in the US could use that website.

Anyway, it seems like this is one of those lawsuits that came from gamblers who are looking to blame someone. A few months ago, I remember someone posted here that someone filed a lawsuit against Drake claiming that they were influenced by him to gamble at stake.us.

[BABY SHOES]

I'm curious why they thought Stake.us is illegal in the US. That website was created and follows the gambling regulations in the US so gamblers in the US could use that website.

Anyway, it seems like this is one of those lawsuits that came from gamblers who are looking to blame someone. A few months ago, I remember someone posted here that someone filed a lawsuit against Drake claiming that they were influenced by him to gamble at stake.us.

Yeah for US citizens there are special sites that are made according to the regulations that apply there... but I don't understand Stake.us being considered illegal.

It's not like he's a Stake.com/us ambassador, so it's legal to bet? There is also an effect on other users because he is part of this promotion so based on the lawsuit then it is unfair, sometimes there are people who do not like the way Drake does it.

[Die_empty]

Saying that stake.us is an illegal online casino could have been as a result of misuse of speech and not what was intended because even the people that filled the lawsuit are still users of same casino (stake.us) so why call it illegal when they are also using it. From what I captured on that article you provided, the main reason for lawsuit is because "Drake used the tipping feature on the crypto casino website Stake to obfuscate money transmissions related to streaming music botting campaigns."

Stake.com and Stake.us are not the same. The former is banned in the US. While Stake.us is registered as a sweepstakes casino. Sweepstakes casinos offer almost the same services as conventional ones, but only virtual currency is used for wagering. The plaintiff called Stake.us illegal because they claimed it was entering into activities that are outside the license they possess. As a social casino, physical money shouldn't be used, but Drake and Ross are using the tipping system to engage in fiat transactions. It's now up to the court to decide the case.

[TastyChillySauce00]

It seems those who create this lawsuit are coming from banned states. As far as i know there are some states are banned from playing stakeus.


https://consequence.net/2025/11/spotify-lawsuit-drake-streams/
As for drake's lawsuit. I guess that accusation makes no sense. It's just another attack by Drake haters. It's almost the same like when spotify gets sued with the same allegation. As a rapper with most streams before his partnership with stake, it makes no sense he used bot to do that. It's caused by i was also one who reapeated Draka's hotline bling many times.  

[Agbamoni]

If there is any casino that has more popularity and is used by many citizens, Stake should be among the top 5. I am very much confused here. Why does the notice say that Stake.us is illegal.

It can only be illegal if the individual states banned the platform from operating in that region. Because I know of laws made in the US that some states have immunity.

[Alphakilo]

Stake.us is legal in about 33 states in the US, but not in others and this case against Drake points to an accusation of Drake doing some shady things with the gambling site with the two other mentioned persons. Thus, making innocent newbie gamblers join the site when they see how Drake and the others flunt their participation in it.
Although Drakes attorney has yet to make a comment on the issue, the accusations suggest they are into organized crime and money laundering activities of which the use of cryptocurrency is involved while botting to promote their music as well.

So much is yet to heard on this issue and I think this is the second time am hearing about it. I would do well to keep abreast and follow up on the news just to know the right information.

[serjent05]

I think this case is to extort money from Stake.  There are people who have twisted mind suing anyone as long as they can get money from cases.  For sure, these people filed and asking for compensation  from the platform.

This kind of cases are normal where an individual sue someone just to get money from the situation.  I read many cases where the relatives of people who plan to commit a crime like robbery and are killed sue the person they tried to rob but killed them.  There is also an article where the person tried to rob a machine but was electricuted and died.  The thief's family sues the owner of that machine.  Funny, isn't it?  So I think the Lawsuit on Stake is something like this, someone wants to extort money through the judicial system.

[AmoreJaz]

I think this case is to extort money from Stake.  There are people who have twisted mind suing anyone as long as they can get money from cases.  For sure, these people filed and asking for compensation  from the platform.

This kind of cases are normal where an individual sue someone just to get money from the situation.  I read many cases where the relatives of people who plan to commit a crime like robbery and are killed sue the person they tried to rob but killed them.  There is also an article where the person tried to rob a machine but was electricuted and died.  The thief's family sues the owner of that machine.  Funny, isn't it?  So I think the Lawsuit on Stake is something like this, someone wants to extort money through the judicial system.

I don't think stake will be operating up until now if it is illegal so for me, they are just wasting their time. By the large amount of money that come in and out in stake throughout the years, for sure, they already have lawyers in place. So I don't think they will just let Drake face the lawsuit without their assistance.

[7juju]

To be frank I do not know why they are saying it's not legal in the United States, but however, and f the site is seen to be having illegal operations by now they could have stopped them, as I know US is a country that doesn't jokes with regulations and taxation. However, Drake have been promoting stake casino for long time now and if stake.us is seen to be illegal there wouldn't had been a day they could be running promotions and featuring some of the football clubs.

Good a think that there is a court that will interpret for us whether it is illegal or legal, but from what most of us know Stake.US is not illegal, so if their is any misconduct or irregularities the court will interpret and the right thing will be done. That's the more reason why the court is in existence in the first place to address civil matters like this. To me there's no need to panic, both parties should get their lawyers ready and go iron out the misunderstanding in court. Taking someone to court doesn't mean they are guilty. Hopefully we will see how this case will end.

[Charles-Tim]

Stake.com and Stake.us are not the same. The former is banned in the US. While Stake.us is registered as a sweepstakes casino. Sweepstakes casinos offer almost the same services as conventional ones, but only virtual currency is used for wagering. The plaintiff called Stake.us illegal because they claimed it was entering into activities that are outside the license they possess. As a social casino, physical money shouldn't be used, but Drake and Ross are using the tipping system to engage in fiat transactions. It's now up to the court to decide the case.

Maybe legal or illegal, let us see where the suit will lead to. Although, what I see more about this is that Drake has gotten some enemies as some people selfishly and greedily lost money while gambling on Stake. This is not the first of the lawsuit but they have no good excuses to win in the court. So they look for more ways that can let me take from Stake or Drake the money they have lost while gambling. If they have won money on Stake instead, the probability that this lawsuit with occur is very low.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Sweepstakes casinos use some legal workarounds so they are allowed to operate inside the United States. There can be a fine line between a sweepstakes casino and a real money casino, but for now they are allowed for the most part.

I don’t think this lawsuit against Drake has any merit. RICO cases usually involve organized crime, terrorism or exceptional situations involving fraud. Music labels sometimes do some shady things to boost an artist’s streams, but I don’t see how Stake has any involvement with that.

Whoever filed the lawsuit is looking for easy money. You can tell by some of the ridiculous claims they made. They try to argue that Stake’s tipping feature is unlicensed money transmission. Even if Drake had done any tipping, it would have been on Stake.com, not Stake.us. This is just a very absurd accusation.

[OgNasty]

My understanding is that Stske didn’t do anything wrong and this has nothing to do with Drake promoting it. The allegations were something along the lines of him and his friends using the tipping feature to pay to illegally inflate music streams and sales numbers. I did only read a quick article about it, but that’s what I took from it.

[rdbase]

Sweepstakes casinos use some legal workarounds so they are allowed to operate inside the United States. There can be a fine line between a sweepstakes casino and a real money casino, but for now they are allowed for the most part.

I don’t think this lawsuit against Drake has any merit. RICO cases usually involve organized crime, terrorism or exceptional situations involving fraud. Music labels sometimes do some shady things to boost an artist’s streams, but I don’t see how Stake has any involvement with that.

Whoever filed the lawsuit is looking for easy money. You can tell by some of the ridiculous claims they made. They try to argue that Stake’s tipping feature is unlicensed money transmission. Even if Drake had done any tipping, it would have been on Stake.com, not Stake.us. This is just a very absurd accusation.

But the tipping feature does have restrictions so they can not be deemed as facilitating money laundering whether it be from stake.us or from their main site stake.com

Think they only allow $100 for platinum users which increases by each rank up level from there.

My understanding is that Stske didn’t do anything wrong and this has nothing to do with Drake promoting it. The allegations were something along the lines of him and his friends using the tipping feature to pay to illegally inflate music streams and sales numbers. I did only read a quick article about it, but that’s what I took from it.

This is a very confusing case since they are accusing them of paying off people from another platform's use.
That being Spotify from what I could gather at a glance of the lawsuit against Drake.
They would normally just pay the streaming service damages and that would be that.
But from what FinneysTrueVision has already mentioned in the post I quoted from them above,
It does seem they are looking for an easy way to get money with this lawsuit against all of the accused.
Because they are well known to gamble millions in their livestreams with Stake.