About us: the story behind Stake Casino

Stake Casino arrived in 2017 with a clear point of view and has spent the years since proving it right. While most online casinos were building incrementally on established formats – more slots, bigger welcome bonuses, familiar interfaces – Stake was constructing something genuinely different: a crypto-primary gambling platform with its own original game library, a live community built around shared play, and a brand identity that extended into sports, entertainment, and culture in ways the industry hadn’t seen before. In 2026, Stake is one of the most recognised gambling brands in the world and one of the most actively used platforms by Canadian players outside Ontario. This is who we are and how we got here.

Who operates Stake Casino

Stake Casino is owned and operated by Medium Rare N.V., a company registered in Willemstad, Curacao. Payment processing operations run through Medium Rare Limited in Cyprus. The platform holds a licence from the Curacao Gaming Control Board, which permits it to offer online gambling services to international markets including Canada – specifically to Canadian players in all provinces outside Ontario, where local licensing requirements apply separately.

Medium Rare N.V. operates Stake as its flagship product, and the company has grown from a crypto gambling startup into a global operation that processes nearly two billion casino bets per month. That volume places Stake among the largest online gambling platforms in the world by bet count, reflecting a player base that spans dozens of countries and a platform infrastructure built to operate at genuine scale.

The founding vision: community, originals, and crypto

Stake was founded with three ideas that shaped everything that followed. The first was that cryptocurrency should be a genuine first-class payment method rather than an afterthought bolted onto a fiat-primary platform. The second was that the best casino games for a community-oriented platform might be original ones – games designed specifically for Stake’s environment rather than licensed from third-party providers. The third was that gambling should have a social dimension: that sharing wins, watching other players, and participating in competitions could make the experience richer rather than more isolating.

Those founding ideas remain the core of what Stake is in 2026. Cryptocurrency transactions process near-instantly. The Stake Originals library has grown to over 97 exclusive titles – including Mines, Plinko, Crash, Dice, and the January 2026 launch Drill, which features multipliers up to 2,000,000x – that are unavailable anywhere else. The community features, from the live chat to win sharing to the leaderboards that run daily and weekly, are still central to how players experience the platform. The original vision has been refined and expanded, but not abandoned.

The game library: 3,000+ titles and counting

Stake’s game library in 2026 exceeds 3,200 titles, combining the Stake Originals with a curated selection from leading international software providers. The library covers all major formats: slots from top-tier studios, table games including multiple blackjack and roulette variants, video poker, a full live casino section with dealer-hosted tables, and the Stake Originals that remain the platform’s most distinctive offering.

The live casino section features real-time blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and game show formats that reviewers consistently identify as one of Stake’s stronger conventional casino features. For Canadian players who want the live dealer experience alongside the Stake Originals and the crypto payment infrastructure, the platform delivers both within a single consistent interface.

The sports betting product – Stake Sports – extends the platform into competitive odds across NHL, NBA, NFL, Formula 1, soccer, and esports, with coverage broad enough to serve Canadian sports bettors who want a single platform for both casino and sports wagering.

How Stake rewards its players

Stake’s approach to player rewards is built around ongoing activity rather than upfront deposit bonuses. The platform does not offer a standard welcome deposit match to all new players – instead, it structures value through a promotional ecosystem that rewards consistent engagement over time.

The core promotional structure includes daily and weekly races with real prize pools distributed by wagering volume, weekly raffles where tickets are earned through play, rakeback that returns a portion of the house edge to active players, and level-up bonuses that increase in value as players advance through account tiers. Platinum-level players access a dedicated host who manages a personalised benefit package – an approach that delivers more long-term value than a generic welcome offer for players who engage seriously with the platform.

For players who want a traditional welcome structure, bonuses of up to CA$4,000 are available through specific promotional codes rather than standard account creation – reflecting Stake’s model of directing value toward players who engage through its partner ecosystem rather than distributing blanket offers.

Global partnerships and brand recognition

Stake’s cultural footprint in 2026 extends well beyond the casino floor. The platform is the official shirt sponsor of Everton FC in the English Premier League, a relationship that gives it one of the most visible brand positions in global football. The Drake endorsement – one of the most prominent celebrity associations in the gambling industry – reflects Stake’s positioning at the intersection of gambling, music, and cultural entertainment. Partnerships with UFC, Formula 1, and major esports organisations give Stake continuous presence across the sporting events most watched by its target audience globally and in Canada specifically.

Former Real Madrid and Spain captain Iker Casillas joined as Stake’s largest global sports ambassador in late 2025, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup – a partnership that reflects the platform’s ambition to maintain global cultural relevance throughout one of sport’s biggest events. These partnerships are marketing investments, but they’re also a form of consumer signal: a platform operating at this level of public visibility carries reputational stakes that reinforce its commitment to operational reliability.

Security, fairness, and responsible gambling

Stake Casino uses SSL encryption across all platform transactions and personal data. The platform’s games are certified for RNG integrity, and the responsible gambling toolkit – comprising over ten distinct tools including deposit limits, wager limits, loss limits, session controls, reality checks, and self-exclusion – is accessible through account settings for all registered Canadian players.

The Crypto Gambling Foundation membership adds an industry self-regulatory commitment that applies independently of licensing jurisdiction, covering fair play standards and responsible marketing practices. AskGamblers rates Stake at 9.3 out of 10 (Superb) with a player rating of 8.9 across more than 2,500 reviews – a level of sustained positive reputation that reflects eight years of consistent operational delivery.

Stake in Canada in 2026

For Canadian players outside Ontario, Stake represents a genuinely distinctive choice in 2026. No other platform combines a library of 97-plus exclusive original games with instant cryptocurrency payouts, a live community environment, competitive sports betting, and the cultural footprint of a brand that is simultaneously sponsoring Premier League football and partnering with global music and entertainment figures. It is a specific kind of gambling experience – community-oriented, crypto-forward, and built around original content – that has no direct equivalent in the Canadian market. Canadian players who fit that profile will find nothing quite like it.