Research on the influence of crypto casinos: Revenue increased to over 80 billion dollars last year 

You can no longer ignore the influence that crypto casinos have. Crypto casinos are online casinos where you can deposit and get paid out in crypto, most often in bitcoins. 

In the past year, their revenue worldwide increased to over 80 billion dollars. This is a striking phenomenon considering that these casinos are illegal in most countries.  

Crypto casinos remain highly accessible 

In Belgium and the Netherlands, it’s forbidden for legal online casinos to accept bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. We are no exception. In many countries where online gambling is regulated, crypto casinos such as Stake are also illegal. But despite this, they remain very accessible to the general public, as the Financial Times also noted this week.  

Extensive research by technology company Yield Sec  

The Israeli technology company Yield Sec, founded by Ismail Vali and known for detecting illegal activities on online marketplaces, conducted extensive research on the growing influence of crypto casinos and shared their findings with the British government. According to their research, their gross revenue worldwide has risen to 81,4 million dollars (71,4 billion euros) in 2024.  

They concluded that this total revenue represents a fivefold increase compared to 2022. Tis is also evident from the image shared by Yield Sec in their research, which highlights this explosive growth.  

Undisputed crypto casino Stake even sponsors F1 team  

Stake is by far the most well-known crypto casino. Their fame is partly due to their active role as a sponsor of the F1 Team Sauber. However, due to the controversy, Sauber was forced last year to replace the Stake logos in countries where the promotion of gambling companies is prohibited, with logos of Stake’s sister company, Kick. Sauber attempted to calm the situation, but remained loyal to their sponsor.  

Stake was already added to the Belgian list of illegal gambling sites on October 13, 2021. Furthermore, on February 22, 2024, they were fined 200 000 euros by the Gaming Commission.  

A major competitor to legal casinos  

Financial Times states that since its founding in 2017, Stake has accepted 300 billion dollars in bets from 25 million users, which accounts for about 4% of all transactions on the Bitcoin network. Last year, Stake achieved a gross revenue of 4,7 billion dollars. Stake saw its revenue increase by 80% compared to 2022.  

That’s why Stake positions itself as a serious player in the gambling industry, coming close to companies like Entain and Flutter, which achieved revenues of 5 billion and 14 billion dollars respectively last year. Entain and Flutter are both known for owning well-known brands and are among the largest gambling companies in the world.  

Stake does not consider itself a crypto casino  

Stake issued this statement to clarify that more than half of the transactions do not involve cryptocurrency, and that users, including those using VPN’s, would not have access to their services. However, when Financial Times decided to test this, they were able to register an account without any issues by using a VPN.   

Research crypto casinos in the Netherlands  

In the Netherlands, research was also conducted into how easily one could gamble anonymously at these illegal crypto casinos. The KVA (the Dutch Certification for Responsible Affiliates) published their report regarding this matter in November 2023. Last December, The Dutch Gambling Authority imposed a penalty on an anonymous provider that gave access to Dutch players at various illegal casinos.  

Because Dutch players no longer had access to these crypto casino’s, the interim relief judge opted to make the content of the decision public only in an adapted, untraceable form in order to protect the anonymity of the provider.  

No legal crypto casino yet 

There are currently no legal Belgian casinos that accept crypto as currency, and our advice is not to play there, as illegal casinos never guarantee player protection and they don’t operate by the rules set by the Gaming Commission.  

Therefore, always play on a website from a Belgian licensed provider to ensure you can enjoy an optimal protection.