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.