How to Verify a Crypto Casino License in 2026: Curaçao, Anjouan and Fake Seals

Almost every crypto casino shows a license badge at the bottom of its homepage, usually next to a line such as licensed and regulated by the Curaçao Gaming Authority. That badge is an image and a sentence, and anyone can copy both. Scam sites routinely display license logos they do not hold, or copy a real casino's seal onto a different domain.

A license only means something if the regulator that issued it confirms it on its own website. That confirmation should tell you three things: the name of the company that holds the license, the license number and status, and the website domains the license covers. If any of those do not match the casino you are looking at, the badge is not protecting you.

Checking takes about five minutes, and it is one of the most effective filters against outright scams. A casino that has gone to the effort and cost of obtaining a real license has at least passed the regulator's company checks, agreed to handle complaints under its rules, and put its name on a public record.

Our casino reviews list the license each operator declares, but licenses can be suspended, revoked or not renewed between our updates. The steps in this guide let you confirm the current status yourself, at any casino, before you deposit. For background on what each type of license means, see our casino licenses page.

Curaçao is still the most common license among crypto casinos, but the system behind it changed completely. For decades, Curaçao licensing ran through a handful of private master license holders, who sold sub-licenses to operators. Players had little way to check a sub-license beyond a seal supplied by the master license holder.

That model ended with the National Ordinance on Games of Chance, known by its Dutch initials LOK, which came into force on 24 December 2024. Under the LOK, a single public regulator, the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA), issues licenses directly to operators and keeps a public register of license holders.

The old arrangement was wound down in stages. The master licenses expired and sub-licenses ceased to be valid in early 2025, and a temporary transition seal for operators that had applied under the new regime, often called the orange seal, was discontinued in October 2025. In practice, this means that in 2026 a valid Curaçao license is one issued by the CGA that appears in the CGA's own register.

So if a casino still shows a certificate naming one of the old master license holders, a sub-license number in the old format, or a transition seal presented as a current license, treat that as a warning sign rather than proof. It may be a casino that never completed the new licensing process.

The official CGA website is cga.cw, and licensed operators display a CGA validation seal that opens a certificate page on cert.cga.cw.

Anjouan, one of the islands of the Union of the Comoros, has become a common alternative to Curaçao among crypto casinos, and its use grew as Curaçao's requirements tightened. Several casinos we review, including BC.Game and Sportbet.one, declare an Anjouan license, and some, such as Thrill and Crashino, declare both Curaçao and Anjouan.

Anjouan licenses are administered by Anjouan Gaming, which describes itself as the island's gaming regulator and publishes a public register on its website, anjouangaming.com. You can search it by license number, company name or domain, and the result shows the license holder, license number, license type and current status. Licensed casinos are also expected to display a validator seal, usually in the footer, which should open a page on the regulator's domain listing the operator and its registered websites.

Treat an Anjouan license as a weaker signal than a Curaçao license issued by the CGA. The Comoros central bank has described several Anjouan licensing bodies as having no legal existence in the Union of the Comoros, and a former Comoros attorney-general has called one of them an illegal entity. An Anjouan seal that checks out tells you the casino is on that register, not that a strong regulator stands behind it, so weigh the casino's track record and withdrawal history as well.

Other licenses you may see include Tobique, issued through a First Nation gaming commission in Canada, and a small number of casinos with licenses from regulators such as Malta or Kahnawake. The same principle applies to every one of them: the regulator's own website, reached by typing its address yourself, must list the company and the exact domain you are using.

Be aware that an offshore license does not make a casino a local licensed operator in your country. Many countries in Latin America and Africa run their own licensing systems, and an offshore license does not replace them. Check your local rules before you play.

Use this process before your first deposit at any casino, and repeat it occasionally at casinos you already use.

1. Find the license details. Scroll to the footer and open the terms and conditions. Note the company name, the company registration address, the regulator named and the license number. A legitimate casino states all four clearly. Vague wording like licensed in Curaçao with no number is a warning sign.

2. Click the seal, then look at the address bar. The seal should open a certificate page on the regulator's own domain, such as cert.cga.cw for Curaçao. A seal that does not click through, opens a flat image, or goes to a lookalike domain is a red flag.

3. Check the register independently. Type the regulator's address into your browser yourself rather than following the casino's link, open its public register, and look for the license number or company name. On cga.cw the register is published as downloadable lists of licensees; anjouangaming.com has a search page.

4. Match the domain. The register or certificate should list the exact domain you are on. Scam copies of real casinos sometimes borrow a genuine license number while running on a different domain.

5. Match the company. The company name in the register should match the one in the casino's terms and conditions.

6. Check the status. The license should show as active or valid, not suspended, revoked or expired.

If any step fails, do not deposit. Choose a casino whose license you can confirm.

A verified license is a baseline, not a guarantee. It is worth being clear about what it gives you.

What it can give you, depending on how rigorous the regulator is: a named company that has passed the regulator's ownership and background checks; a regulator that can suspend or revoke the license; rules on fair games, anti-money-laundering controls and complaint handling; and a formal route to escalate a dispute if the casino ignores you.

What it does not give you: a promise that withdrawals will always be fast or that the casino will never go out of business; the level of protection you would get from a strict regulator in your home country, since offshore regulators have limited power to force a foreign company to pay; and any change to the house edge of the games.

It also does not make gambling legal where you live. Whether you may play at an offshore casino depends on your country's laws, not on the casino's license. Our guide to crypto gambling legality covers the position country by country.

To put yourself in the best position if something goes wrong, keep records: screenshots of your balance and the bonus terms you accepted, your transaction IDs, and copies of your messages with support. Complain to the casino first, in writing, and give it a reasonable time to respond. If it does not resolve the issue, submit a complaint to the licensing regulator with your evidence.

And whatever the license, set a budget before you play and only gamble with money you can afford to lose.