How To Verify Crypto Casino Licenses

Want to know if the crypto casino you’re playing on is legit? Are they being honest about their license? Here’s everything you need to know…

Bitcoin and crypto casinos have witnessed a significant surge in popularity in recent years. A key contributing factor to this trend is the rising adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide. However, just like any other online gambling platforms, Bitcoin casinos are subject to licensing and regulation.

This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to verify crypto casino licenses, particularly those authorized via the sometimes rather confusing rules of the Curacao government. However, we’ve also gone into detail about verifying licenses from Malta and the UK too, the two most prestigious licenses to hold for casino sites in Europe.

Most recently, we’ve explored the upcoming licenses issued by PAGCOR in the Philippines and also licenses issued in Anjouan within the Comoros Islands and Costa Rica too.

Understanding Curacao Gambling Licenses

Before diving into the verification process, it’s crucial to understand how Curacao gambling licenses work. Interestingly, the Curacao government does not issue gambling licenses directly to online casinos. Instead, as far back as 1996, they designated four private entities to license and regulate online casinos within their jurisdiction. These entities are referred to as master license operators.

August 2024 update: There are some major changes happening in the structure of Curacao licensing, with the Curacao Gaming Control Board becoming the main authority on the island and taking over the licensing duties of many of these smaller organizations. The Minister of Finance and the Curacao Gaming Control Board (GCB) have restructured the jurisdiction to provide direct licensing from the GCB.

The four master license holders discussed below will be gradually phased out between summer 2024 and early 2025 and this page will eventually reflect that.

First Step in Curacao License Verification

Since the summer of 2024, the whole process of Curacao licensing has become clearer. In time, all four of the below organizations will be phased out and any operator or casino seeking a Curacao license will have to go directly to the Curacao Gaming Control Board (GCB) instead of one of these private companies. So, simply scroll down to the bottom of the casinos page and look for the green GCB icon.

If you click on it, it should open up and tell you whether the site is in the process of obtaining such a license or whether it has in fact already been granted. If you scroll further down this page to the section about domain names you’ll see what to look out for to make sure the certificate page is indeed genuine.

Although the information about master licenses will become obsolete over the next 12 months, it’s important to keep it up for the time being as many casinos have yet to switch over to the new GCB license and as of October 2024 many of these types of license remain valid for now.

Curacao Master License Verification

Despite the individualized license verification procedures for each master license operator, there is a shared feature. Each online casino licensed by a Curacao master license operator must include a licensed seal at the bottom of their website. This seal allows online casino players to verify the casino’s authenticity with ease.

Antillephone’s logo can be seen highlighted by a red box in the left hand side

To verify a license, a player simply clicks on the seal (you can see the logos next to the licensing companies in the section below). This action redirects them to the license verification website specific to the master license operator. Here, the player can confirm the license’s validity.

It appears as a certificate pop up, and the way to tell a fake from a genuine one is the domain or URL. These are impossible to fake. But we’ll show you some examples shortly.

When it comes to the UK, Malta, and various others there are also logos in the footer of the crypto casino website. Or, you might simply have a statement detailing the licensing body and the number. You can then go to the relevant body’s register online and check. We’ll show you how to do it further down the page.

Verification Procedures for Each Master License Operator

Now that we’ve covered the common aspects of license verification, let’s delve into the specific procedures for each master license operator. Note that each operator has a unique seal and verification domain name. Later on in this guide we’ll show you these correct domain URLs using real-time screenshots.

Verifying a Antillephone (8048/JAZ) Gambling License

The verification domain name for Antillephone licenses is validator.antillephone.com. Note that the “antillephone.com” portion of the domain name is constant, while the prefix may change in the future.

In our experience, the majority of casinos on Crypto Lists that have crypto payment options use Antillephone to license their casinos. This may change in the future with the introduction of further crypto-specific legislation in Europe, however, for whatever reason this seems to be the most popular of the Curacao master licenses.

Verifying a Gaming Curacao (365/JAZ) Gambling License

The verification domain name for Gaming Curacao licenses is licensing.gaming-curacao.com. The “gaming-curacao.com” portion is constant, while the prefix may change one day.

The also have a website where you can double check, as linked above, however when we tested it, it wasn’t particularly responsive. However, in our experience, the second most popular licensing body for casinos with a Curacao license is this one.

Invalid license

Important note: As of August 18 2024, this is now invalid and any casino should display one from the Curacao Gaming Control Board (GCB) otherwise they aren’t licensed. Please make sure the casino you’re using has the new certificate logo in the footer of the site.

If they’re still using the Gaming Curacao license it should appear like the image on the right, indicating that it’s expired as the casino is now operating in an unlicensed capacity.

Verifying a Curacao eGaming (1668/JAZ) Gambling License

The verification domain name for Curacao eGaming licenses is validator.curacao-egaming.com. Here too, the “curacao-egaming.com” portion is constant while the prefix may change at some point.

You can also go to the link above and enter the casino’s domain name. This will provide further verification if you’re wanting absolute peace of mind about the site you’re trying out. Although having a license isn’t necessarily the be all and end all, if they’re lying about this then what else might they be dishonest about? Points to ponder!

Verifying a Curacao Interactive Licensing (CIL) (5536/JAZ) Gambling License

CIL does not have a dedicated webpage for license verification. Instead, casinos licensed by CIL provide a signed license agreement in the footer of their domain. However, this method isn’t entirely reliable as the agreement can be easily forged. As such, dealing with Curacao Interactive Licensing N.V. is not generally recommended.

That doesn’t mean every casino that uses CIL isn’t legit, it’s just a a reminder to perhaps take some extra precaution and bear it in mind.

Verifying Procedures for Non-Curacao Licenses

Of course, increasingly crypto and bitcoin casinos are looking further afield than just the one small Netherlands-owned island in the Caribbean. More and more and seeing Anjouan, Costa Rica, and various other jurisdictions as preferable as an alternative or even a complementary license to one from Curacao.

Verifying Malta Gambling Authority (MGA) Licenses

Now for the final two. But first up is the Malta gambling license (MGA). This is considered one of the most reputable and predominantly fiat-only. However, some of the casinos using a Malta license have a semi-workaround that allows you to use crypto. Often, sites have a crypto-accepting payment processor such as MiFinity where you can deposit your BTC or ETH.

There’s a handy drop down menu too, so you can search for an operator that way, but if you type the first letter of the name it will filter the results for you. It’s very professional, and provides you with a detailed overview of the type of license(s) the operator has, as well as contact information for the company.

Verifying UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) Licenses

Last but not least is the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), and the majority of sites we’ve come across here are fiat-only. Like with Malta, you can easily match the name of the casino operator (found in the footer of a casino’s website or in the terms and conditions) with the license to see if they’re telling the truth. Over time, Crypto Lists expects that Gibraltar will become more of a hub for Bitcoin friendly casinos since they already have rules and regulation in place for cryptocurrency trading on a high level / good.

The register is good because if you search for something only slightly related to the casino operator’s name, it will find it and tell you all the different sites they operate as well as all the specific licenses and sublicenses.

Verifying Kahnawake Gaming Commission Licenses

One lesser known but fairly common license is based in Kahnawake, a fairly obscure organization from the Mohawk region that bares its name within the First Nations Reserve in Quebec, Canada. They’ve been regulating online casinos for over 25 years, from before the turn of the millennium, so it’s an experienced licensing operation.

Sites that have leveraged the capability of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) will always have the certificate in the footer and will look like the image on the right. The domain name you should look for to ensure it’s a genuine certificate and not a fake is ‘certificates.gamingcommission.ca’.

On the website for the organization there’s a whole section about player complaints, which is great to see. Of the big crypto casino licensing bodies, this one is among the most transparent in this regard.

Verifying Philippines (PAGCOR) Licenses

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation – abbreviated to PAGCOR – is a license growing in prominence among the newest bitcoin casinos looking to onboard as many developers as possible. They have far fewer restrictions than the licenses issued in Curacao, although it hasn’t built up up anywhere close to as large a presence within the crypto iGaming niche yet.

Interestingly, it’s classified as a state-run organization and therefore has the stamp of approval from the highest levels of government, something that gives it a level of authority missing from some other kinds of casino licenses. However, there are third parties such as ‘New Wave Infotech Limited’ that appear to sublicense on their behalf. In a nutshell, it’s these third parties that are directly licensed, and then they extend that license to the casinos in question.

To verify the license, simply scroll to the bottom of the casino site in question and locate the certificate logo that’s usually a light green color. Once clicked it should open up, and display the name of the operator of the casino and confirm their licensed credentials. There is also a section on the official PAGCOR website that has an approved list of casinos, although this doesn’t appear to have been updated recently.

Note: There was a reported memo about the government closing down iGaming operations, that would result in this license closing down at the end of 2024. This has been flagged as fake by PAGCOR. You can read their response here. Crypto Lists will update this page should further information come to light that clarifies the situation.

Verifying Anjouan (ALSI) Licenses

One of the most interesting license jurisdictions in 2024 has been the rise of Anjouan – an island in the Comoros Islands. Unlike Curacao and others that issue sub-licences, Anjouan – Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. (ALSI) – grants B2B or B2C licences directly to the casino. This is really good, since you know there’s no ‘middleman’ to muddy the waters and overcomplicate things.

Although many of the same ‘big name’ locations are restricted – such as France, the Netherlands, the UK & US – it’s quite a lot cheaper than going for a Curacao license, with the costs approximated to be under 20,000 EUR.

Similar to the licenses in Curacao, a certificate will be available in the footer of the casino with a logo similar to the one on the right, which you can click to verify. We go into more detail later on in this page where we explain what to look out for.

Verifying Costa Rican Licenses

Costa Rica stands out from other regions that license online casinos due to its distinct legal framework. Unlike most jurisdictions, Costa Rica’s laws do not explicitly regulate online gambling licenses. Instead, online casinos are registered in the same manner as any other local business or corporation. The primary legal requirement is that online casinos must prevent access to Costa Rican residents, as online gambling is restricted for those within the country.

See a ‘Costa Rica license’ as more of a business registration as opposed to something specifically regulating iGaming itself.

Due to this setup, there isn’t a way to verify these licenses. While this doesn’t mean a casino with a Costa Rica license is ‘bad’ or doing something wrong, it does mean player precautions should be taken. On the flipside, for players who prefer a less regulated casino experience, Costa Rica-based casinos could provide the ideal solution.

Verifying Tobique Gaming Commission Licenses

Did you know there’s an upcoming license that specializes in crypto casinos? Well now you do. Say hello to the new (as of fall 2024) Tobique license. Similar to the Kahnawake license, the Tobique Gaming Commission (TGC) gets its name and credentials from the First Nations peoples that bare its name.

We’re impressed with this new regulatory body since the process isn’t a ‘drive-thru’ situation, and instead takes up to 8 weeks for an operator to obtain. This ensures all the necessary checks are implemented to make sure players can really trust the license isn’t awarded overly generously.  To put it into perspective, Anjouan licenses can take as little as 3 weeks to get hold of.

Please note that the license register in Tobique is private information and not available to the public

The Importance of Domain Names License Verification

Domain names, the unique addresses of websites on the internet, play a crucial role in license verification. Many scam casinos create fake license verification webpages that look identical to the legit ones.

They typically alter one letter, suffix, or prefix in the domain name to make it appear similar to the legit one. Therefore, it’s crucial to not only click on the license verification seal, but also to confirm that you’re on the legit verification website.

Curacao Licenses

Below you can see some correct images of the way these certificates should look.

Gaming Control Board (GCB) certificate

As you can see, it’s more of a page than a typical certificate – like the ones from Antillephone, Gaming Curacao et al that this is replacing. However, like those aforementioned third parties, you can also use the URL to see if it’s legit or not. In the GCB’s case, simply look for what we’ve highlighted (domain: cert.gcb.cw) in red at the beginning of the URL and this will let you know you’re looking at the genuine article.

And the license number itself should begin with OGL/ – however, this may change in the future and we’ll keep you updated as always.

Antillephone certificate

As you can see, the domain (validator.antillephone.com) is highlighted in red, and this will never change if the license certificate is genuine. It might only be a tiny tweak, but the scammers out there don’t expect people to check the URL at all. So, you’re already one step ahead just by reading this guide!

Gaming Curacao certificate

The Gaming Curacao domain name (licensing.gaming-curacao.com) is highlighted in red as always, and the certificate itself shows that the BetFury is verified. However, in the cases where it’s not, instead of a green ‘Verified’ tick, you’ll see a red cross. It’s very clear when you come across it.

August 2024: The license and the domain is now invalid and should be reflected on any site that previously displayed it.

Curacao eGaming certificate

Here’s the license for Bitcasino IO (review), one of the oldest Bitcoin casinos around. A true classic that we recommend trying. And, the domain (verification.curacao-egaming.com) is highlighted. But in addition, there’s also an extra check you can take, as described below…

Curacao eGaming verification page

As you can see, there’s also the additional verification page as described in the above section. You simply head on over to the Curacao eGaming website (linked in the above section) and enter the name of the casino, plus the Captcha text to verify that you’re human. And hey presto, you can some extra proof and peace of mind.

Curacao Interactive Licensing (CIL) certificate

As we mentioned earlier, CIL license certificates don’t appear on a separate, checkable URL. They come on a PDF, which is easier to forge. Although in this case, BC Game (see more) is a massive crypto casino that’s highly regarded, we’d recommend additional caution when trying out CIL-licensed sites for obvious reasons.

So there you have it, four examples from the four Curacao licensing bodies. It’s a pretty complicated thing to understand fully, since most jurisdictions have only one license issuer, and there isn’t master license holders, sublicenses, and so on.

Anjouan Licenses

Similar to the Curacao situation, the domain name featured once you click on the certificate at the bottom is important to check its validity.

The domain (verification.anjouangaming.org/validate) must be written in exactly that way otherwise it’s highly likely to be a forgery and not to be trusted. If you come across a site where you suspect this, don’t hesitate to reach out and we’ll contact the casino on your behalf for clarification.

The Necessity of Verifying Curacao Gambling Licenses

While it’s always a good idea to verify the license of a new online crypto casino you want to try out, it becomes especially important when dealing with casinos licensed in Curacao’s jurisdiction. This is because there are numerous scam casinos that falsely claim to hold a Curacao license. By verifying the license, you can protect yourself from such scams and semi-scams.

With Malta, the UK, and other more ‘established’ jurisdictions, the need to verify might feel like less of a priority. However, it’s worth doing just for that additional peace of mind. The good news is, Crypto Lists does it for you as part of our review process.

Making Complaints to Licensing Organizations

What do you do when a casino that claims to be regulated starts behaving badly? Well, if the site itself is unresponsive, a smart step to take next is to go directly to the source of their legitimacy as a casino: the license granter.

Antillephone

Antillephone N.V, perhaps the most widely used master license holder in the pre-GCB era, has a complaints email address [email protected]

It’s important to note, that according to their own site:

“Antillephone should only be contacted by players when they believe an Operator is in breach of their license. All disputes with an Operator about a payout, a blocked account, a delay, broken features and so on, should first be taken up directly with the Operator. If no resolution is found there are number of independent bodies you can contact, which should be listed on the Operator website.”

More to follow.

Country-Specific Licenses

Not all online casinos operate using offshore licenses. These are casinos that operate using (usually) a country-specific domain such as .dk or .de for example in Denmark and Germany. In order to properly explain all the ins and outs of crypto casino licensing, it’s especially prudent to explore these kinds of official licenses as well as the ones in Anjouan, Curacao, and so on.

Italy

A major reform of the Italian rules on online gambling, including regulations on the award of remote gaming licenses, was approved by the Italian Board of Ministry in 2024. Very stringent requirements were provided to meet the suitability criteria and potential penalties were also increased to deter potentially troublesome operators.

The price for each nine-year license will be €7,000,000 per license, which is a pretty large figure in our opinion. Additionally, an annual license fee equal to 3% of the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) net of gambling taxes needs to be paid. Also, operators are required to invest an amount equal to 0.2 of their GGR net of gambling taxes into responsible gaming campaigns.

You can see all crypto casinos for Italy here.

Denmark

Famous for very strict gambling laws, Denmark has a comprehensive set of guidelines for would be operators. Suitable casinos can apply for a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority for a fee of DKK 315,300 (approx 223,000 EUR as of November 2024). A licence to provide online casino services is valid for up to 5 years. Sites that want to also provide sports betting must pay a total of DKK 441,400 (which is inclusive of the DKK 315,300). Renewals are substantially less.

To obtain a license for offering online gambling in Denmark, gambling operators must grant the Danish Gambling Authority access to a data warehouse known as SAFE. In this system, operators are required to continuously transfer and store gambling data, secured by the Tamper Token security system. Additionally, operators must verify whether players are listed in ROFUS, Denmark’s register for self-excluded individuals.

Crypto Casino License Verification: Wrap Up

While Curacao gambling licenses often attract controversy, they are part and parcel of the crypto iGaming industry. The main issue lies with fake Curacao casinos that tarnish the reputation of the jurisdiction and the casinos that completely play by the rules. When you find yourself on a reputable Curacao-licensed casino, you can often enjoy better bonuses and promotions due to the relatively low license fees and taxes in Curacao.