How to Check if a Crypto Casino Is Actually Licensed (in Two Minutes)
Find the seal, click it, match the company name. The fast check that separates a licensed crypto casino from a logo thief, updated for the new Curaçao regime.
Find the license seal in the casino's footer and click it. A real one opens a certificate on the regulator's own website showing the operator's company name, license number and an active status. A seal that is just an image, or a certificate hosted on the casino's own domain, is the tell that something is wrong.
The Two-Minute Check
The logo is the easiest thing on a casino site to fake; the click-through is the one thing a logo thief cannot forge.
The full check, in order:
- Scroll to the footer. Find three things: the license seal, a license number and the name of the operating company. Real casinos display all three; a footer with a seal and nothing else is already a yellow flag.
- Click the seal. A genuine seal opens a certificate page on the regulator's own domain. For a Curaçao Gaming Authority license, that is a certificate on the CGA's verification domain showing the company name, the license number and a status field reading Active. A fake seal does nothing, is a flat image, or opens a PDF the casino hosts itself.
- Match the company name. Compare the entity on the certificate against the company named in the casino's own terms and conditions. This catches the most common trick that survives step 2: a real certificate belonging to a different company. A mismatch means a borrowed or rented license, and you should treat the casino as unlicensed.
No seal at all? Search the regulator's public register directly by casino or company name. Every serious regulator runs one, listed below. Not in the register means not licensed, whatever the homepage claims.
Where to Run the Check, by Regulator
Each register below was verified working in August 2026. Search by company name, license number or, at most of them, the casino's web domain.
Regulator | Where to check | What you see |
|---|---|---|
Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) | The certificate the seal opens on the CGA's cert domain; the CGA also runs a public register of licensees | Company name, license number, status: Active, Suspended, Withdrawn or Revoked |
Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) | The MGA licensee register, searchable by name, status or site URL | Licensee details and every authorized gaming service |
Anjouan Gaming | The verify-a-licence page on the official Anjouan Gaming public register | Registered name, license number, B2C or B2B type, current status |
UK Gambling Commission | The UKGC public register of gambling businesses | Operator licenses, premises and any regulatory action taken |
One sentence on Curaçao, because most guides ranking for this search are out of date: in December 2024 the island replaced its decades-old master-license system with a single national regulator, the CGA, old sub-licenses expired in January 2025, and even the orange transitional seals expired on October 15, 2025. A Curaçao seal that references a master license in 2026 is describing a regulator that no longer exists.
Worth 10 extra seconds: check the register's own web address. Lookalike gaming board sites with near-identical names exist, and a spoofed register proves nothing. Type the regulator's domain yourself.
Beyond this, we've ranked 40+ casinos by their trust scores.
Worked Example
You can quickly scan the licenses for each crypto casino we track via the ranking page.
But if you want to go one step further and manually check a specific platform's license, here's how.
Using Stake as an example.
Step 1: Head over to the official website and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Here, licensed platforms will typically present one or more seals. Most commonly, either an Anjouan or Curaçao license.
Step 2: In this case, we find the GCB seal at the bottom of the page.
Step 3: Click on the seal to open a page hosted by the respective gaming authority. This will show whether the license is valid or expired.
Note: Although Stake.com still displays the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) seal on its site, its license is fully valid and regulated directly under the modernized Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) framework.
🚩 Red Flags
- Unclickable or static seal: The badge is a plain image that does not open an external verification link when clicked.
- Non-official domain: The certificate page opens on the casino's own website or a lookalike address instead of
cert.cga.cw. - Mismatched entity or domain: The certificate lists a different operating company, an unauthorized web address, or an inactive status.
What a License Does, and Doesn't, Get You
Licensed does not mean safe. A license means there is a real legal entity behind the site, a register entry you can point at, and, depending on the regulator, a complaints channel that can compel a response. It does not guarantee fair games or fast payouts, and an unlicensed casino can refuse to pay even a provably verified win. What recourse looks like when a payout stalls depends on the license behind the casino, which our complaints system tracks case by case.
We run this exact check, plus about 20 more, on every casino we review. The license column in our casino directory shows what we found, so you can compare the claim in the footer against what the register actually says before you deposit any money.
Frequently asked questions
Can a casino license seal be faked?
Yes, trivially. The seal is an image, and any site can paste one into its footer. That is why the click-through is the test, not the logo: a forger can copy the picture but cannot make it open a valid certificate on the regulator's own domain.
Is a Curaçao license legit?
Yes, it is a real license from a real regulator, and since the December 2024 reform every licensee deals directly with the Curaçao Gaming Authority. Player protections are lighter than under stricter regimes, so check how a casino actually behaves in our reviews before depositing.
What happens if I play at an unlicensed casino?
There is no register entry, no regulator and no complaints channel with any power over the operator. If a withdrawal stalls or an account is closed with a balance in it, no authority is obliged to hear you. Our complaints page shows what recourse exists per license, and for unlicensed sites the honest answer is none.
What if the license belongs to a different company than the casino?
Treat the casino as unlicensed. A certificate naming a different entity than the one in the casino's terms means the license is borrowed or rented, and the regulator has no relationship with the company actually holding your deposit. The protection you think you have belongs to someone else.
