basics
Stake.com is a real-money crypto casino under a Curaçao licence that refuses US players. Stake.us is a US sweepstakes site with no gaming licence, closed in 20 states. What each one is, side by side, from our records.
Stake is one brand name on two different products, and they sit in different legal worlds. Stake.com is a real-money crypto casino and sportsbook, licensed in Curaçao, that does not accept American players. Stake.us is an American sweepstakes site that holds no gaming licence at all, and is closed in 20 states.
People searching for one routinely land on the other. This page sets out what each one is, from the records behind our reviews of Stake.com and Stake.us.
| Stake.com | Stake.us | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Real-money crypto casino and sportsbook | Sweepstakes casino: Gold Coins to play, Stake Cash redeemable for prizes |
| Licence | Curaçao Gaming Authority, OGL/2024/1451/0918, held by Medium Rare N.V. | None in any US state |
| Who it serves | Not the US, the UK or France; its terms list more than 40 prohibited jurisdictions | US only, minus 20 states on its help centre list |
| Money in | 20 cryptocurrencies, Lightning, card purchases through MoonPay | Gold Coin packages, including with crypto |
| Money out | Crypto withdrawals; minimums of 0.001 BTC, 0.01 ETH, 0.1 LTC or 20 USDT; network fee only | Stake Cash redeemed for crypto prizes; minimum reported at 40 Stake Cash; a fee may apply |
| Identity checks | Government ID before depositing or withdrawing, under Stake's own four-level KYC | ID and selfie reported before redeeming |
| Sportsbook | Yes | No |
Stake.com names the United States as a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms, and it has reason to. No US state authorises offshore real-money casinos: our state records mark them illegal in 14 jurisdictions and unauthorised in the other 37.
Stake.us is the answer to that. It sells Gold Coins, which are for play and cannot be cashed out, and gives Stake Cash with each purchase, which can be redeemed for cryptocurrency prizes once it has been played through three times. Because nothing bought is ever redeemed directly, the model is presented as a sweepstakes promotion rather than gambling, and that is how Stake.us operates without a gaming licence. Its own record describes the missing licence as the structure of the product, not a gap in our research.
Stake.us's help centre, last updated on 23 July 2026, lists 20 states where it is not available: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. A second source also lists Indiana and Maine, whose bans took effect in July 2026.
Nine of the 20 ban sweepstakes casinos outright on our records. The rest restrict them through enforcement, sit in unsettled territory or, in Kentucky's case, have no ban and are excluded by the operator's choice. Our guide to sweepstakes casino laws sets out every state.
Stake.us's record holds four actions against it, all allegations rather than findings:
Stake.com's record also notes separate national licences in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Denmark. Licences like these cover the brand's offer in that one market: the Danish one, for example, is for stake.dk, reported as licensed in February 2026 under Stake Denmark A/S. None of them changes the licence that applies to stake.com itself.
That licence, held by Medium Rare N.V. in Curaçao, is the one that governs the site most readers mean. It gives a player no standing with any regulator in their own country, which our Curaçao page covers in detail.
Stake.com sponsors some of the biggest names in casino streaming. Drake and Roshtein are among its current partners on our records, and Kick, where all eleven English-language casino streamers we track have a channel, was founded by Stake's co-founders. What those partnerships involve, in the streamers' own words, is in our streamers guide.
Stake.com's licence, withdrawal, verification and availability records are held at medium confidence, last verified on 17 September 2026. Stake.us's state list is high confidence, read on its own help centre and re-checked against it on 4 October 2026. Its redemption figures are not: the official site blocked our reads, so the 40 Stake Cash minimum comes from secondary sources.
Neither product publishes a fixed welcome offer we could verify, so this page quotes none. Both reviews link to the source behind each fact.
Same brand, different products. Stake.com is a real-money crypto casino licensed in Curaçao to Medium Rare N.V., and it refuses US players. Stake.us is a US-only sweepstakes site that holds no gaming licence in any state.
No. Stake.com names the United States as a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms. Its US-facing product is Stake.us, which is itself unavailable in 20 states.
Not directly. Gold Coins are bought and cannot be redeemed. Stake Cash comes free with Gold Coin purchases and can be redeemed for crypto prizes once it has been played through three times. That structure is why Stake.us holds no gaming licence, and why 13 states ban the model on our records.
Its help centre, last updated on 23 July 2026, lists 20: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. A second source adds Indiana and Maine.
Before you redeem, yes. Secondary sources report a government ID photo and a selfie before Stake Cash prizes can be redeemed, and the official help centre requires a two-factor or emailed code at redemption.
