To OP, is it really a "controversial move" by Stake.com, and they risking their great reputation if they didn't have a sign-up bonus. Generally, if there's a sign-up bonus, it's a great move totally even for a brand new site?
Just want to point out that reputation shouldn't be damaged especially for a well-establish platform if they didn't have a sign-up bonus.
True, welcome bonus has nothing to do with reputation. No site will get good reputation site just because of the existence of welcome bonus and no site will get bad reputation just because there is no welcome bonus. I cant understand why this reviewer connecting welcome bonus to reputation. But wait, where is the OP? It seems that he is not willing to get in touch with members in this forum as he created this topic and went away after that.