A Bettor’s Guide to Crypto Casino Licenses: Curaçao, Anjouan, Costa Rica, and Tobique Compared

Last updated: September 22, 2026, reviewed & verified by Balazs

The Licensing Jurisdictions at a Glance

A gambling license tells you:

• How seriously a casino was vetted before it could open
• What rules protect your account and funds
• Whether there’s anyone to complain to after the casino says no

Here’s how the four most common crypto gambling jurisdictions stack up:

Curaçao: Rebuilt Under the LOK

For years, Curaçao was the go-to license for crypto casinos: easy to obtain, cheap, and light on enforcement, because four master licence holders handed out sub-licences to almost anyone. That system is gone.

The National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) came into force on 24 December 2024. The old Gaming Control Board became the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA), which now issues every licence directly. Operators apply in their own name and have to show financial integrity, AML and KYC controls, and fair-play policies. Existing sub-licensees were moved onto provisional licences while they applied, so you’ll still see a mix of numbers in the wild.

A current CGA licence number looks like OGL/2024/1507/0838, and you can check it on the CGA’s public register. Old sub-licence numbers ending in /JAZ, or starting GLH-, belong to the retired system. When a casino quotes one of those, its documents are out of date at best. The same goes for the old orange sub-licence seal: the CGA says it is no longer valid and must not be displayed by operators without a formal CGA licence.

Brands we’ve verified under a CGA licence:

• Duelbits: OGL/2024/1507/0838. Its Privacy, AML and Refund pages still quote the retired sub-licence GLH-OCCHKTW076092020, which tells you how carefully those pages are maintained.
• WSM Casino: OGL/2024/1718/0938.
• Bitcasino, Sportsbet.io and Livecasino.io: all run by Moon Technologies B.V. under OGL/2023/111/0069.
• Wikibet: OGL/2024/251/0130.

Player Protections:

CGA licensees have to offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): a third-party process for complaints the casino won’t settle. Livecasino.io, for example, sends unresolved complaints to a CGA-certified ADR body whose decision is final and binding. That’s a real improvement. It only works if the operator has actually appointed one, though, and Bitcasino hadn’t named an ADR provider when we checked. The CGA doesn’t mediate individual disputes itself, but it supervises operators and can act on repeated failures.

Anjouan (Union of Comoros): Where a Lot of Brands Moved

Anjouan licences are issued under the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA). They’re cheaper and quicker to get than a CGA licence, one licence covers all forms of iGaming, and operators still have to submit director KYC, clean criminal records, an AML framework and a business plan. That combination is why so many crypto brands have landed here since Curaçao tightened up.

The pattern you’ll see again and again: a Costa Rican company holding an Anjouan licence. That’s not the same as a Costa Rica-only operator. The company is registered in Costa Rica, but a gambling regulator stands behind the licence number.

Brands we’ve verified under an Anjouan licence:

• BC.GAME: Twocent Technology Limited (Belize), ALSI-202410011-FI1.
• FortuneJack: PlayWave SRL (Costa Rica), ALSI-202411021-FI1.
• Fairspin: Sorta Group Limitada (Costa Rica), ALSI-202508047-FI2.
• Flush: Fordegens Limitada (Costa Rica), ALSI-202509008-FI1. Previously Tobique.
• DuckDice: Zentari Limitada (Costa Rica), ALSI-202509013-FI1. A 2018 KYC policy still on the site names a different company under an old Curaçao sub-licence.

One warning case: Bspin advertises Anjouan licence ALSI-092404013-F12 on its website, but that number doesn’t appear in its Terms. A licence the legal documents don’t mention isn’t one you can rely on in a dispute.

Dispute Resolution:
Anjouan’s complaint route is thinner than Curaçao’s ADR system. Some operators name the licensing body as the escalation point (DuckDice names Anjouan Licensing Services Inc), and others, like Flush, put disputes under Costa Rican law with the complaints route pointing back at the licensor. It’s a route, not a guarantee, and it’s far less tested.

Costa Rica: The Wild West of Registration

Here’s the truth: Costa Rica doesn’t issue gambling licenses. Casinos incorporate there as ordinary companies and enforce whatever standards they choose.

That means no vetting, no dispute process, and no player protections by law. A “data processing license” is often used as cover, but it isn’t a gaming license in any real sense.

Betplay is the clearest example we review: operated by LAMA TECH, LIMITADA, Costa Rica company number 3-102-857685, with no regulator, no licence number and no appeals body anywhere in its Terms, FAQ or footer.

Player Risk:
There’s no external dispute resolution. If you’re locked out or denied winnings, your only option is the casino’s own support, and hoping it plays fair. No regulator will intervene.

Tobique First Nation (Canada): Promising on Paper, Empty in Practice

The Tobique Gaming Commission (TGC) operates under the sovereign Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada. On paper its requirements are serious: background checks, RNG certification, an AML programme, a named compliance officer and a complaints process with escalation to an independent ADR provider.

In practice, none of the brands we review holds a Tobique licence any more. Flush, our only Tobique example, now operates under Anjouan. Until we can point to operators and dispute outcomes under the TGC, we treat it as an unproven licence rather than a new standard.

How Do Offshore Licences Compare With Malta or the UK?

Not closely. Regulators like the Malta Gaming Authority, the UK Gambling Commission and Ontario’s iGaming regime set the rules for their own markets: identity checks before you play, mandatory player protection tools, advertising restrictions, and an approved dispute route with real enforcement behind it. That is the level of protection offshore licences are measured against, and none of them reaches it.

The catch for crypto players is that the top-tier markets and the crypto market barely overlap. Almost none of the casinos we review holds one of those licences, and the ones that do serve their licensed market in fiat. So the realistic choice for a crypto bettor isn’t Malta versus Curaçao. It’s a verified CGA or Anjouan licence with a named complaints route, versus a bare company registration or no licence at all.

Which License Does Your Casino Use?

These are the brands whose licence we checked against their own Terms in September 2026, not the footer badge. For every other brand, the licence section of its review has the current details.

Curaçao (CGA direct licence):

Duelbits, WSM Casino, Bitcasino, Sportsbet.io, Livecasino.io, Wikibet

Anjouan:

BC.GAME, FortuneJack, Fairspin, Flush, DuckDice; Bspin claims one, but not in its Terms

Panama:

BetOnline names its Panama regulator but publishes no licence number to check it against.

Claims a licence, no number published:

JettBet and Rollino claim Curaçao, but no licence number appears anywhere, and their Terms end the complaints process with management.

Costa Rica registration only, no gambling licence:

Betplay

Tobique:

None of the brands we currently review.

How Do You Check a Casino Licence Yourself?

Five minutes is enough, and it’s the five minutes most players skip:

1. Find the number in the Terms, not the footer. Footers get copied between sites. The Terms are what a dispute runs on.
2. Click the seal. A current CGA licensee’s footer seal should open a certificate on cert.cga.cw that names the exact casino domain. A seal that isn’t clickable, opens a screenshot, or lands on an unofficial validator page is decoration until proven otherwise.
3. Match the company name. The Terms, Privacy Policy and AML policy should all name the same operator and the same licence. When they don’t, as at DuckDice (two different companies) and Duelbits (two different licence numbers), some of the legal pages are stale.
4. Look it up. CGA numbers can be checked on the Curaçao Gaming Authority’s public register. A number that isn’t there doesn’t count.
5. Find the complaints route. A named ADR body or regulator is good. “Management’s decision is final” means there is no route.

Fake seals are one of the standard tools of casinos built to take deposits and freeze withdrawals. Our guide to shady crypto casino warning signs covers the rest of that playbook.

Which Crypto Casino Licence Is Safest?

Licensing isn’t the only thing that matters, but it’s your first line of defense.

• Curaçao is genuinely better than it was. Look for a current OGL number on the CGA register and a named ADR provider in the Terms.
• Anjouan is where the market moved. A published ALSI number is a real licence, but the dispute route is thinner than Curaçao’s.
• Costa Rica on its own is a red flag. Some sites still operate fairly, but they do it on reputation alone.
• No licence number is worse than a weak licence. If there’s nothing to look up, there’s nobody to appeal to.

Want to dig deeper?

Every CoinBettors review has a licence section with the operator, the number and the complaints route, checked against the Terms.

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