Is the era of ultra cheap licenses over?

[Fortify]

I remember it used to be the case that an online casino could go through the whole process of acquiring a license under the Curacao sub license scheme for a very affordable price maybe a few hundreds dollars total.

Nowdays, after Curacao changed their licensing process, their license became significantly more expensive. Of course some casinos renewed their license under the new fee scheme that is up to the tens of thousands of USD per year, but some opted for different licenses. I've seen mostly the Anjuan license around but also in some rare cases the Kahnawake license.

I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year. This is significantly cheaper than both Curacao and Anjuan fees but also I've never seen a casino under this license for some reason

I don't believe in the last ten years that any of these licenses were going for hundreds of dollars and they were always going for at least a few thousand dollars. Considering the heat that selling these licenses brings to the small islands with pressure from US regulators (and others), it had to be worth their while and they charged larger amounts. Maybe in the first few years or when competition in the sector increased there might been little dips in the pricing but not substantially. The most recognizable and reputable operators were also never interested in scraping the barrel - these licenses have to pay for legal fees, company setups, administration costs, an office and all the extra bits associated with a professional organization. Curacao is the most well known but that doesn't make it the cheapest as a lot of new island nations have tried to take a slice of the offshore licensing pie by undercutting prices.

[Smack That Ace]

I remember it used to be the case that an online casino could go through the whole process of acquiring a license under the Curacao sub license scheme for a very affordable price maybe a few hundreds dollars total.

Era of those Curacao master sub license ended ages ago! There is nothing to miss about days when you could get any license for just few hundred dollar. After all back then it was free for all in market. There were absolutely no rule & regulation or player protection in place! Once Curacao introduced new law and hiked fee to nearly €50k, casino scrambled to find alternative.

It was natural for Anjouan to make big splash in market. With an annual cost of just €17K to €18k and processing time of only few week, what better deal could there be for startup or crypto casino? As you said Kahnawake is also holding its ground well as veteran player even though cost there are bit higher.

[Alphakilo]

We can see the list of gambling licence fees here: https://licensegentlemen.com/blog/comparing-online-gambling-licenses/. The licnese offered by Anjuang is indeed cheaper than Curacao and also shown as the most cheapest plus the signing fee is already included on the package.



The increase in licensing fees shows that the online gambling industry is really booming.  The regulations may have an effect on this, but as we all know, the more demand, the higher the price.  We might see Anjuang licensing service increase its charges in the future as many new online and license-renewing casinos are now shifting to their services.

Competition in business always has a way of driving price and demand and when it comes to these licenses, there isn't any much difference because top tier casinos want the best for their customers and well, customers would only really trust and want to patronize a casino that has the best service to offer and that includes the best games they want.
Casinos just starting up can always opt for the cheaper license and work their way up, but the thing is how limited they would be when it comes to payment processors and game providers.
The more expensive the license, the more crowd and global coverage and the cheaper the licence, the less crowd and access to the best games. That's how it is.

[el che]

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I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year. This is significantly cheaper than both Curacao and Anjuan fees but also I've never seen a casino under this license for some reason.

...

The main reason you rarely see casinos using Vanuatu, despite the cheap €10k annual fee, is their 1% tax on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). Most offshore crypto operators hate paying revenue taxes. In comparison Anjouan charges a flat fee with 0% GGR tax, requires very little paperwork and accepts crypto easily. Until an alternative offers a zero tax, ultra cheap license with smooth crypto integration, Anjouan will stay the favorite budget choice.

[bhadz]

I don't think these license offer any real security to the player.

That is valid, but not all gamblers have the same opinion as  it gives the authorization for the igaming. I think that the time will come when this is also going to be another competition when others have started to adjust with the pricing and will compete in terms of cheaper licensing fee. The cheapest next to Anjouan is either Tobique and Nevis, there are only a few of them but Curacao is the most popular. Aside from the fee, they'll also have to compete with the speed of approval in the process. I have no issue if a casino is licensed or not because I've seen those with no license in the past and didn't scammed although it's a public knowledge that it gives a sort of assurance that they're legitimate if they have it.

[Hazink]

You call this cheap? God damn, it seems someone can't even manage to run a online casino without having alot of money, that's alot of money and my type of person can't even get closer to the business.

When we call things cheap, including myself, that's based on what it's connected to casino licensing, seeing $10k and $20k as licensing fee can be considered to be cheap compared to how much it's required for a casino operation.

If you aren't made of money don't even think about running a online casino it seems, and it's going to get expired, no wonder casinos are struggling especially the new ones, they need to make money to stay in business.

To run a small casino you need to have about $500k and above, the cost of licensing a casino, developing your own game, and reserve funds which will be used to pay for winnings for the first time. I don't know if they also pay for insurance, but casino business is meant for millionaires, not someone who just touched few hundreds thousands dollars 

[Powerjumboo]

So even Curacao is not cheap anymore. If that is the case let's move to Virgin or British Island or Seychelles, jokes a part now many casinos opt for the easiest option and I don't think like paying 20.000 EUR a year in license fee is relevant to them, most casinos, well known and reputable ones with a good user base make that amount in 1 hour. Now even the license cost goes to 200000 EUR a year still is nothing compared to what casinos win out of their business.

I've never really wondered how much a casino license might cost, but I agree with you that for a casino with a solid customer base, it's not an impossibly high amount. It might seem expensive at first for some new casinos that are just getting started. But when you consider how much casinos spend on different types of advertising, it's clear they have the money, so getting a license shouldn't be a problem for them.

We, the common users, do not know and are not interested in knowing how much a license costs. I myself came to know today how much it costs to get a license. However, the cost of a license is not very high for a casino platform, and then there are many casino platforms that hesitate to pay this amount of money and operate casinos without a license. In fact, a casino platform has a lot of money, they spend a lot of money on advertising, one of the reasons for spending a lot of money is that if advertising is not created, it may not get popularity, it gets popularity because of advertising, so no matter how much a casino platform costs, they will not hesitate to spend on advertising.

[lombok]

We, the common users, do not know and are not interested in knowing how much a license costs. I myself came to know today how much it costs to get a license. However, the cost of a license is not very high for a casino platform, and then there are many casino platforms that hesitate to pay this amount of money and operate casinos without a license. In fact, a casino platform has a lot of money, they spend a lot of money on advertising, one of the reasons for spending a lot of money is that if advertising is not created, it may not get popularity, it gets popularity because of advertising, so no matter how much a casino platform costs, they will not hesitate to spend on advertising.

The choice of management not to follow formal requirements is not caused by limited finances. The regulatory authorities demand that the system undergoes audit, have separate accounts, and set profit limitations that restrict the actions of the bookies. The formal fees for obtaining license may appear small, but it suffocates the opportunities for making fast profits.

All capital moves are directed solely at advertising of the system, which aims to attract as many clients as possible. Huge amounts of money go to advertising that brings new revenues before the system reputation fails because of payment complaints. The artificial popularity is used to hide the absence of legal protection, since the players always manage to overcome public doubts about security of transactions.

[red4slash]

Licensing will increasingly become an important part of gambling and with this it will increasingly become a differentiator when a site that is serious about the development of its business or those who just want to find a thrill and co-create with a specific purpose with a cheaper license but the goal is to cheat.
Indeed the higher the price for a casino license the greater the challenge for the casino,  but this is also a special condition in which the casino that has a license may be more responsible in running its business.

I actually prefer to see this now even though fake sites with fake licenses (or even without licenses) will become more later but for gamblers who do know that licenses become important then I don't think we will play on sites that do not have licenses because to better guard ourselves from such casino reputation problems.

[Orpichukwu]

Licensing will increasingly become an important part of gambling and with this it will increasingly become a differentiator when a site that is serious about the development of its business or those who just want to find a thrill and co-create with a specific purpose with a cheaper license but the goal is to cheat.
Indeed the higher the price for a casino license the greater the challenge for the casino,  but this is also a special condition in which the casino that has a license may be more responsible in running its business.

Licensing fees are not the only thing that will make a casino serious with their business, and don’t turn out to be a scam. A scamming casino might go for a cheaper option, which might not be wrong, but a casino which still is determined to scam can go all the way to appear legitimate and gain the trust of the people.

The only place I pay attention to in Curacao’s updated requirements for licensing is what’s needed for the casino before they are licensed and not just the money but the level of information at least to some extent players protection and casino operators information.

[Byebyebtc]

Reduction of price can be attractive to casinos, but one that really matters is reputation and trust even payment providers as well, if Anjouan gives lower fees but curacao has good reputation like we all know regardless of the fees. Basically some casinos will still find it hard to  change licenses givers

[EluguHcman]

I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year. This is significantly cheaper than both Curacao and Anjuan fees but also I've never seen a casino under this license for some reason
 Still though I haven't seen any country or territory offering licensed for as cheap as Curacao sub-licenses used to go. I'm wondering if the lower prices are going to change anything because Anjuan already seems to be having some competition.

Verify I understand you are coming from the point where cheap fees of kinds or lower price for acquiring licenses will feel doubted to see it trustworthy.

I also want you to understand that sometimes, it is not really about the amount spent that determines the legitimacy of the gambling and licensed casinos reputations, sometimes lower or local authorities that charges less of licenses can still be more transparent and operating genuinely than the higher authorities that charges higher rates of licensing requirements.

[OgNasty]

I think this is probably just a result of supply and demand. If you are offering something globally much cheaper than everyone else, you are probably going to need to make sure you have the infrastructure to support the potential demand. Otherwise, prices go up. That seems like what we’re witnessing in cheap licensing.

[Asuspawer09]

I don't think these license offer any real security to the player.

That is valid, but not all gamblers have the same opinion as  it gives the authorization for the igaming. I think that the time will come when this is also going to be another competition when others have started to adjust with the pricing and will compete in terms of cheaper licensing fee. The cheapest next to Anjouan is either Tobique and Nevis, there are only a few of them but Curacao is the most popular. Aside from the fee, they'll also have to compete with the speed of approval in the process. I have no issue if a casino is licensed or not because I've seen those with no license in the past and didn't scammed although it's a public knowledge that it gives a sort of assurance that they're legitimate if they have it.

I always remember here locally the news about the players who won a huge amount at a registered casino here in my country; somehow they were able to win 400 million in our local currency, but their account was frozen, and they were never able to withdraw their money. It was just a thing, in my opinion, and really unfair for players who were able to win, and these custodial platform casinos are able to do whatever they want, and they could just say that it was just a system glitch whatsoever. I mean, on the other hand, players cannot really do anything if they lose money or something.

So these licenses are not going to guarantee any security for players, I mean, this just means that they are allowed to operate. The way I see it, governments are just taking money from them like a business partnership, so for sure there are favors that might even be unfair for players, I don't think that the government are protecting the users at all.

[r_victory]

That's just the cost of the license, but a casino has other costs involved, such as taxes, technology, compliance, and legal, among others, which, added together, I don't think is that cheap. Of course, a casino makes a lot of money, but it's not enough to just make money; the owner has to know how to manage it. But certainly, if you only consider the cost of the license, it's still very cheap.

[Dogedegen]

I remember it used to be the case that an online casino could go through the whole process of acquiring a license under the Curacao sub license scheme for a very affordable price maybe a few hundreds dollars total.

Nowdays, after Curacao changed their licensing process, their license became significantly more expensive. Of course some casinos renewed their license under the new fee scheme that is up to the tens of thousands of USD per year, but some opted for different licenses. I've seen mostly the Anjuan license around but also in some rare cases the Kahnawake license.

I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year. This is significantly cheaper than both Curacao and Anjuan fees but also I've never seen a casino under this license for some reason
 Still though I haven't seen any country or territory offering licensed for as cheap as Curacao sub-licenses used to go. I'm wondering if the lower prices are going to change anything because Anjuan already seems to be having some competition.

It should be, but based on the posts of other users it does not seem like it. There is no benefit at all for humanity or for users of these services from having the option to have such cheap licenses. There are more than enough casinos, we need better and high quality providers that are fewer in numbers than a large pool of shady services and scammers. Anyway what is a cheap and easy to get license worth anyway? It seems that countries must have laws that restrict the usefulness of these licenses in their own borders and with that make them even less effective. I don't know why a Casino that has a cheap license from Anjuan should be allowed to operate anywhere other than Anjuan? Internet provides easy access, but makes things much worse from this view.

[2Pizza410000BTC]

That's just the cost of the license, but a casino has other costs involved, such as taxes, technology, compliance, and legal, among others, which, added together, I don't think is that cheap. Of course, a casino makes a lot of money, but it's not enough to just make money; the owner has to know how to manage it. But certainly, if you only consider the cost of the license, it's still very cheap.

A casino platform has not only the cost of the license, but also other expenses, and if a casino platform does not spend on various expenses, the platform will never be published. All the things you mentioned must be spent on all these expenses, and then there are various promotional expenses, advertising expenses, considering everything, the cost of the license is actually much less. Even then, if a casino platform can be developed and made popular among people, then it is definitely a very profitable business.

[DPHOR]

I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year. This is significantly cheaper than both Curacao and Anjuan fees but also I've never seen a casino under this license for some reason
 Still though I haven't seen any country or territory offering licensed for as cheap as Curacao sub-licenses used to go. I'm wondering if the lower prices are going to change anything because Anjuan already seems to be having some competition.

Vunuatu could be a bit cheaper but what matters is name, because Anjuan and Curacao has already been the most common licensing company they all believe to, and we need to also know if they would covering a range of various countries because, there may be some country that do not recognized them except Curacao and Anjuan.
So, even if they like they can be issues if for around 5k Euros it wouldn't change anything if they don't have good names or widely recognized.

[CryptoBuds]

I noticed Vunuatu is also trying to promote an online gaming license with a cost of around 10k EUR per year.

As for Vanuatu, honestly I have no idea why no one really gravitates towards it. Annual fee of €10k and 1% GGR tax sound like fantastic deal. But it seems IRL casino operator just don't want to deal with logistics and payment gateway hassles in Oceania region. Like Curacao and Anjouan, Vanuatu has not yet developed payment processor power facility or network expansion. No matter how cheap license is, if payment provider won't accept it then is there really any point in saving that €10k? At the end of the day, in offshore gambling industry bank account and smooth transaction are main priority.

[Hispo]

I think the era of "cheap" licenses is going to be over any time soon, in my opinion.
It is a matter of supply and demand, after all, there are many countries which seemingly have started to show their interest in issuing their own licenses to compete against Curaçao and Antojuan. Even if those two countries start to increase the costs of their licenses for casinos, eventually other countries will try to lure those new casinos with a tight budget when cheaper licenses.

Curaçao is not stupid, they will try to keep their licenses affordable enough and within the industry standard, so they can continue to lead the market.