With this series we look at the largest online providers in detail: where they come from, how they are organised and what that means for players in Austria. We begin with Stake, one of the largest crypto casino and sports betting providers in the world.
From a betting system in a video game to a billion-dollar group
The founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani met as teenagers in the online game RuneScape, where they built a first, unofficial betting system. In 2013 they launched Primedice, a simple dice game based on Bitcoin. In 2016 they founded the software company Easygo in Melbourne, which to this day provides the technical foundation. In August 2017 Stake.com went live, in the middle of the first big Bitcoin boom.
How Stake is organised
The contracting party for players outside the USA is Medium Rare N.V., based in Willemstad, Curacao. The platform holds a Curacao licence and offers casino, sports betting, poker and its own crypto game modes. Deposits and withdrawals are made predominantly in Bitcoin, Ethereum and comparable cryptocurrencies.
For Austria there is no licence under the Gambling Act. This is precisely the legally decisive point, which we return to below.
Reach and marketing
Within a few years Stake has become one of the highest-grossing providers in the industry. Gross gaming revenue rose from around 105 million US dollars in 2020 to around 4.7 billion US dollars in 2024. Analysts estimate the company’s value at 14 to 23.5 billion US dollars.
This was made possible above all by an unusual marketing strategy. Because conventional advertising for such providers is blocked in many countries, Stake relied on well-known streamers, a partnership with the musician Drake and broad sports sponsorship from Formula 1 to the UFC. When the streaming service Twitch restricted gambling streams, Stake promptly founded its own streaming platform with Kick.com.
Stake under legal pressure
The rapid growth in a lightly regulated space has drawn Stake into several disputes. In the USA a wave of class actions is under way against the local offering Stake.us, which is operated through a sweepstakes model. In August 2025 the city of Los Angeles, on behalf of the State of California, filed a widely noted lawsuit against the Stake.us operation, relying among other things on a law that was originally directed against organised crime.
There have also been security incidents. On 4 September 2023, according to FBI findings, crypto assets worth around 41 million US dollars were stolen from Stake by the state-controlled North Korean Lazarus Group. These incidents show the regulatory and technical environment in which such providers operate.
What this means for Austrian players
Stake also aims its offering at players in Austria, but holds no licence here under the Gambling Act. According to the settled line of the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH), a gaming contract without this licence is void. The stakes were then collected without any legal basis and are in principle reclaimable, depending on the case up to thirty years retroactively. Crypto stakes are treated in exactly the same way as conventional casino money, and every deposit from one’s own wallet can be proven via the blockchain.
The Curacao registered office makes proceedings more complex than with a Malta company, but it is not a fundamental obstacle. The fact that Stake is a solvent major provider can even make enforcing a judgment easier. The prospects of a specific case we assess on the basis of the amount of the loss and enforceability in each individual case. We explain the background to this in the article Why some online casinos are practically impossible to sue.
All the details specifically about a reclaim with this provider are summarised on the page Provider profile Stake.
How we proceed
The assessment of your case is free of charge. The proceedings against the provider are conducted by cooperating lawyers at our cost, and no upfront payment for lawyers is due from you. If successful, R. M. Prozessfinanzierung GmbH retains from 45 percent of the amount obtained, and the remaining amount is paid out to you. A condition for working together is that you stop playing with these providers. Please bring your wallet addresses and, where applicable, exchange statements to the enquiry. More on this on the page Crypto casino.
Player protection and help
If you feel that you no longer have your own gambling behaviour under control, you will find anonymous advice and concrete points of contact among the help services of the Federal Ministry of Finance. This help is independent of any reclaim.
Note
The information on companies, brands and figures in this article comes from publicly accessible internet research. We accept no liability for its accuracy or completeness.
Sources
- FBI, press release of 6 September 2023, identifying the Lazarus Group as responsible for the theft of 41 million US dollars from Stake.com
- People of the State of California v. Sweepsteaks Ltd. (Stake.us) and others · Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles · Case No. 25STCV25304