Curaçao Casinos

What Is A Curaçao Licence?

A Curaçao licence is a single permit that lets a company registered in Curaçao run casino, sportsbook, poker and lottery products under one regime. Since the LOK reform, there is no separate licence per vertical: one CGA certificate covers every category, which is part of why it stays one of the most flexible options for operators worldwide.

What is the role of the Curaçao Gaming Authority?

The Curaçao Gaming Authority is now the only body that grants, supervises and revokes gambling licences on the island. It vets the Ultimate Beneficial Owners of each company, sets the AML and KYC standards, requires a complaints procedure and access to a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider, and keeps a public register where any player can verify an operator. Unlike the old regime, the CGA supervises actively and hands down sanctions that range from fines to suspension and revocation.

What types of license exist in the market?

Curaçao runs three commercial types. The B2C licence covers operators that deal directly with players, meaning online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks. The B2B licence covers industry suppliers such as platforms, white-label providers and payment gateways, and does not allow serving players. The B2B2C licence covers companies that do both and have to meet the requirements of both categories at once. Applications run in two phases, and during the checks the CGA can grant a provisional six-month licence, extendable by another six months.

What is the cost of getting it?

The one-off application fee sits at €4,592, plus €150 per UBO. The annual fee then lands at €47,450 for a B2C licence (€24,490 licence fee plus €22,960 supervision fee) and at €24,490 for a B2B, with the two annual fees not stacking. Payment is due in full by 15 January each year, and missing it leads through reminders to suspension and eventually revocation. Worth noting: under LOK, the licence has no annual expiry, so it stays active as long as the operator complies and pays the fees.

Are there any requirements to obtain a licence from Curaçao?

To hold the licence, an operator needs real local substance, not just a mailing address. That means a company registered in Curaçao, a physical office and at least one key person resident on the island for the first four years, rising to three from year five. Every UBO goes through background checks, and the critical player and transaction data has to sit on a server inside a certified Tier-IV data centre in Curaçao that the authority can access. On compliance, the operator registers with the national goAML reporting system, appoints a money-laundering reporting officer (MLRO), and gets every game and random number generator certified by an approved lab such as GLI before going live.

Do these operators promote responsible gambling?

Player protection is a written obligation under LOK. Operators have to offer responsible gambling tools such as self-exclusion and limits, cannot extend credit to players, and have to keep reporting procedures in place to prevent problem gambling. On top of that, access to a certified ADR provider gives the player an independent route to settle disputes, something the old regime effectively lacked.

What Criteria Must A Casino Meet To Get A Licence From The CGA?

The CGA seal is not handed over on a single form. An operator goes through two phases of checks: the first covering the UBOs, financial standing and corporate structure, the second covering full technical compliance, the AML and KYC review and the operational assessment. The main criteria are set out below.

Anti-Money Laundering Policies

Fighting money laundering is a core pillar of LOK. Every operator registers with the national goAML system, appoints a certified money-laundering reporting officer (MLRO), trains its staff and reports suspicious transactions to the authority. Failing these obligations is one of the most common reasons operators face sanctions.

Responsible Gaming Tools

A licensed casino needs a full set of protection tools. In practice, that means self-exclusion for a fixed or open-ended period, deposit and wager limits, session time limits, and a flat ban on extending credit. The CGA checks that these tools actually work and are easy to reach, rather than just listed in the terms.

Strong Encryption Protocols

Player and payment data has to travel through current encryption protocols so it does not leak outside the operator’s control. The more recent the protocol version, the safer the transfer, and older standards no longer clear the bar. Alongside encryption, the critical data sits inside a certified Tier-IV data centre in Curaçao itself.

Thorough KYC Checks

The operator has to run Customer Due Diligence, with KYC checks on players and KYB checks on business partners. The point is to confirm identity and source of funds, so money laundering, underage play and fraud get blocked early. A casino that asks for verification before the first significant withdrawal is following exactly this standard.

Experienced and specialised customer support agents

Support counts in the assessment. A reliable Curaçao casino runs a team that answers quickly, knows the product and can handle payment and verification issues. Live chat around the clock, together with access to an independent ADR provider for disputes, shows the operator takes its obligations seriously.

Certified financial institutions for transactions

Payments have to run through certified payment providers and gateways that go through the same AML and KYC checks. The same holds for crypto transactions where they are allowed: they fall under the same supervision as fiat, and the casino terms have to cover cases such as withdrawn tokens or wallet addresses under sanctions.

What Are The Differences Between Curaçao And Other Regulatory Authorities?

No two licences are alike. The choice of jurisdiction decides the cost, the issuing time, how strict the checks are and the reputation the operator carries with banks and players. Below, we put Curaçao against the four authorities it is most often compared with.

Malta Gaming Authority

The Malta licence is one of the highest-status permits in Europe, with correspondingly strict requirements, higher cost and an issuing time of 6 to 12 months. Curaçao, after LOK, has raised its compliance bar significantly while staying cheaper and faster, with issuing in 3 to 6 months. In practice, the MGA suits operators aiming at tightly regulated European markets, while Curaçao suits brands that want broad international reach with a balance of cost and credibility. For UK players, neither applies at these offshore brands, since UK-facing gambling is meant to sit under the UKGC.

Kahnawake Gaming Commission

Kahnawake, based in Canada, is one of the oldest authorities in the field and keeps a steady reputation, with moderate requirements and an issuing time of around six months. Curaçao offers wider category coverage under a single licence and, after the reform, comparable or stricter oversight. Several large operators, in fact, hold licences from both authorities at once to cover different markets.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is an odd case, since it does not issue a real gambling licence. Companies register there as ordinary businesses (data processing) with no specialised gaming regulator behind them. That means, unlike Curaçao, there is no authority checking game fairness, payment processes or player protection. The gap in safety is a real one.

Anjouan

The Anjouan licence is the low-cost, fast-issuing option, at 1 to 3 months and lighter requirements. It is an emerging jurisdiction gaining ground, but it does not yet carry the established reputation of Curaçao. For a player, the difference shows in the level of oversight: post-reform Curaçao gives a public register, ADR and active enforcement, all of which are less mature in Anjouan.

Which Parent Companies Hold A Curaçao Licence?

Behind every licensed brand sits a parent company that holds the licence and carries the compliance responsibility. Below we look at four of the more recognisable parent companies operating under Curaçao.

Equinox Holding N.V.

Equinox Holding N.V. is registered in Curaçao and runs a portfolio of five or more casinos, with Casperbets as its best-known brand after launching in January 2026. Being new, it starts with a short track record, but the group has built its own in-house platform with full operational control rather than renting a white-label. On protection, it runs five or more responsible gambling tools, including self-exclusion, activity trackers and external links to problem-gambling organisations, alongside SSL and SHA-256 encryption, RNG-certified games and AML policies. Casperbets carries a GambleAware reference and a library of over 5,000 titles.

Group Gaem B.V.

Group Gaem B.V. operates out of Curaçao under company number 163083 and has been live since 2023. Its network is one of the wider ones here, with 24 casino sites recorded under its licence as of 2026, and its best-known brands are Seven, Winstler and Gxmble, alongside Jokersino and SpinTime. All of them run under the Curaçao Gaming Authority and share the same licence and sister-site structure, with the group holding a steady reputation for payouts across its brands.

Santeda International B.V.

Santeda International B.V. has been in the market since 2019 and runs a network of five or more casinos, with MyStake and Rolletto the most recognisable, alongside Velobet, Goldenbet and Cosmobet, and support from 60 or more providers across encryption protocols TLS and SSL. It is worth being straight about the record here: the group has drawn regulatory scrutiny in 2026 over UK-facing activity, which is a consequence of the grey-market framework it operates in rather than a payout or reliability problem. Its long-running brands, MyStake in particular, have kept a solid reputation for paying players across several years, and that context matters when weighing the group against newer, untested names.

Fortuna Games N.V.

Fortuna Games N.V. has been live since 2018 and runs a portfolio of 30 or more casinos, with Beonbet, CasinoJoy and Jettbet among the more popular, alongside Winarius, Richville and Hexabet. The Curaçao Gaming Authority records Fortuna’s B2C licence, OGL/2024/112/0974, as active. The group offers the standard problem-gambling tools, including self-exclusion, cool-off periods and deposit limits, and its years in the market give it one of the longer track records among the parent companies here.

How Do We Identify The Top Curaçao Casinos?

The brands we recommend do not get picked by eye. They come through a fixed checking process we run on every new operator.

Monitor top networks for new brands.

We start by catching new brands as they launch, watching the parent companies and networks with a track record of reliable operation. A new casino coming out of an established parent starts from a different level of trust than a name nobody has seen before.

Thorough check for seal validity

Our first move is to check the licence number directly on the public CGA register. We confirm that the digital seal leads to an active, valid entry and that the company name, registration number and licence number match what the brand states on site.

Testing customer support

We test the support in practice, sending real questions and timing both the speed and the quality of the answer. A team that can give a clear timeline on a withdrawal, in plain English, tells us more than any marketing line on the homepage.

Responsible gambling tools

We check that the protection tools, from self-exclusion to deposit limits, actually work rather than sitting unused in the terms. For UK players especially, who step outside UKGC cover at these brands, working account-level tools carry extra weight.

Ongoing check for licensing changes

The check does not stop at the first review. We keep watching the licence status of each brand, so we catch any suspension, revocation or change of regime early and update our readers, as the Santeda case this year showed how fast an operator’s standing can shift.

Is It Worth It For UK Players To Choose Operators Licensed By Curaçao?

For a UK player, a Curaçao casino offers a wider game range, more flexible payments including crypto, and welcome offers larger than most UKGC brands run. After the LOK reform, the licence also comes with a public register, an independent dispute body and active supervision, which lowers the risk compared with the pre-2024 picture.

None of that puts a Curaçao licence on the level of a UKGC one. At a UK-licensed casino, player funds sit in segregated accounts, the brand feeds the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme, and a UK regulator takes complaints. At an offshore Curaçao brand, a UK player steps outside all of that and carries the risk themselves, whichever parent company sits behind the site. The Santeda scrutiny this year is a reminder that the grey-market framework, not just the individual operator, shapes how safe these sites are to use.

The difference, then, comes down to the details: a valid seal verified on the CGA register, working protective tools, responsive support, and clear terms. That is what our job comes down to: separating the brands that genuinely meet the CGA requirements from the ones that just show a logo. For UK players who choose with their eyes open, a post-2024 Curaçao licence is a reasonable base, as long as the specific operator is picked with care.