Cryptocasinos earn billions despite bans
Date: 2025-04-22 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
According to a study by the platform Yield Sec, which fights against cybercrime, in 2024 the aggregate gross revenue (GGR) of cryptocurrency casinos amounted to $81.4 billion. This is almost five times more than two years ago. At the same time, most of these revenues come from platforms that are officially banned in a number of countries, including the United States, China, and Great Britain.
Despite the bans, users find ways to bypass the blocks, using VPNs and mirror versions of sites. Many admit that the instructions for accessing such resources are freely available on the Internet, and the purchase of ready-made accounts is a matter of a few minutes. Identity verification is not required on most of these sites, which makes them especially attractive for underage players and people with signs of addiction.
One of the largest participants in this market is the Stake platform registered in Curacao. In 2024, its revenue reached $4.7 billion, an 80% increase compared to 2022. Representatives of the company claim that up to 4% of all transactions in bitcoins go through their service.
The growth of cryptocasino revenues already puts them on par with the largest traditional gambling operators. For comparison, Entain reported revenue of £5 billion for 2024, and Flutter — $14 billion. In addition to Stake, Rollbit and Roobet are also major players in this segment. All three platforms actively invest in sports sponsorships — Stake cooperates with Everton, and Rollbit and Roobet are partners of Leicester City and Chelsea.
Cryptocasinos are also aggressively promoted through social networks and influencers offering promo codes and instructions for bypassing geoblocks. Some of these platforms use so-called white label licenses, purchasing them from British operators. This allows them to operate in a legal "gray zone". Yes, Rollbit is managed by the Bull Gaming company from Curaçao, but in Great Britain it uses a white label license, officially stating that it does not work with cryptocurrencies.
British expert James Noyes from the Social Market Foundation said that both regulators and gambling operators themselves often ignore the activities of offshore platforms. However, according to the Financial Times, in 2024 the British Gambling Commission issued 287 orders to services accepting cryptocurrency.
