Stake Blocks Irish Players Following Intervention by Gambling Regulator

Stake restricted Irish users from accessing its services last week after intervention by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), according to The Irish Times. The operator had been offering betting services in the country without the required local licence.

The move comes as Ireland begins actively enforcing a new licensing framework for remote gambling operators.

GRAI opened applications for remote and land-based betting licences in February 2026, with the new regulatory regime subsequently taking effect for licensed operators. Companies providing remote betting services to customers in Ireland now require a GRAI Business-to-Consumer Remote Betting Licence.

Stake was not among the locally licensed operators.

Stake voluntarily geo-blocks Ireland

GRAI told The Irish Times that several operators had restricted access to Irish customers following regulatory intervention.

The regulator said a major international gambling platform and two major prediction-market operators had voluntarily geo-blocked Ireland. The Irish Times identified the gambling platform as Stake, while the prediction markets were Polymarket and Kalshi.

Stake has since also added Ireland to the list of prohibited jurisdictions in its terms and conditions.

Its current terms state that users located or residing in Ireland are not permitted to use the real-money Stake.com service. The same restricted-jurisdiction list includes markets such as Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

GRAI said it is working with operators that have geo-blocked the country to ensure funds deposited by Irish customers are returned.

The regulator is reportedly examining more than 100 operators as part of its enforcement activity.

Stake could have retained casino access

There is an important distinction in the Irish regulatory situation.

The current enforcement action concerns betting activity. Casino-style gaming products have not yet been brought fully under the same phase of Ireland's new licensing framework.

According to The Irish Times, Stake could therefore have continued offering certain casino products to Irish users. Instead, the company elected to block access to the entire Stake platform.

GRAI's licensing framework is being introduced progressively, with separate licence categories covering remote betting, in-person betting, gaming and lotteries.

The regulator has also introduced stronger consumer-protection requirements, including controls around player funds, responsible gambling and account protections.

What is Stake?

Stake has grown from a crypto-focused casino launched in 2017 into one of the world's largest online gambling platforms.

The business was founded by Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, who also established the wider Easygo technology group.

Stake.com itself is operated by Medium Rare N.V., a Curaçao company. Its principal international platform currently operates under Curaçao Gaming Authority licence OGL/2024/1451/0918.

The company offers both online casino and sportsbook products and built much of its early growth around cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals.

Stake says its services have supported users across more than 169 countries, although an increasing number of regulated jurisdictions are now either served through separately licensed local entities or excluded from the main Stake.com platform.

Local licences in Latin America

While Stake's main international operation remains Curaçao-licensed, the group has increasingly pursued domestic licences in regulated markets.

Its current licensing portfolio includes locally regulated operations in:

• Brazil, where Stake.bet.br is operated by Stake Brazil Ltda under a licence issued by the Ministry of Finance's Secretariat of Prizes and Betting;

• Colombia, where Stake.com.co operates under a Coljuegos licence;

• Mexico, where the brand operates through locally authorised entities;

• Peru, where Stake.pe holds both sportsbook and online casino licences issued by Mincetur.

That strategy represents a significant shift from Stake's original model of serving much of its international customer base through a Curaçao licence.

A multibillion-dollar crypto gambling business

Stake's scale is unusually large for a privately held gambling operator.

Forbes estimates that the company generated approximately $4.7 billion in gross revenue in 2024. Forbes describes Stake as likely the world's largest crypto-backed online casino.

Craven and Tehrani have both become billionaires through the growth of the business.

Forbes estimated their individual real-time net worth at around $2.2 billion each in September 2026, although private-company valuations and billionaire wealth estimates can fluctuate significantly.

The wider Easygo group also operates streaming platform Kick, which became closely linked with Stake's marketing strategy after restrictions on gambling streams were introduced by Twitch.

Marketing helped turn Stake into a global brand

Stake has used sport and entertainment sponsorships unusually aggressively for a crypto gambling operator.

Its brand has appeared across the Premier League, UFC and Formula 1, while rapper Drake became one of its most recognisable celebrity partners.

Stake previously entered a major front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement with Everton, described by the club and operator as a record-value main partnership when it was announced.

It also became title partner of Sauber's Formula 1 team ahead of the team's transition towards Audi's works operation. Formula 1 described Drake as one of Stake's celebrity and entertainment partners when the Stake F1 Team identity was launched in 2024.

The combination of crypto gambling, high-profile sponsorships, streamer marketing and VIP acquisition helped Stake scale much faster than most traditional online casino brands.

Regulatory pressure has increased

Ireland is not the first major market where Stake has faced regulatory restrictions.

The company effectively exited Britain's licensed online gambling market in 2025.

Stake's British site had operated through TGP Europe under a white-label arrangement. The UK Gambling Commission announced in February 2025 that TGP would shut the Stake-branded site after the regulator opened an investigation into a social-media video displaying Stake branding.

New customer registrations were stopped and the licensed British site was scheduled to close completely by 11 March 2025.

The main Stake.com platform now lists the United Kingdom as a prohibited jurisdiction.

Ireland has now joined that list.

Ireland begins a tougher enforcement phase

The Stake case provides an early indication of how GRAI intends to approach offshore gambling companies targeting Irish customers.

The regulator was formally established under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 and began accepting betting-licence applications in February 2026. Its mandate includes licensing, enforcement and consumer protection.

GRAI says companies offering gambling products in Ireland will require the relevant domestic licence as each section of the new framework comes into force.

For Stake, the immediate result is clear: Ireland has moved from being an accessible market to a prohibited jurisdiction on the company's global platform.

The development is also significant beyond Stake itself. With GRAI reportedly reviewing more than 100 operators, Ireland appears to be moving rapidly away from the relatively open offshore environment that existed before the new regulator became operational.

One useful figure for your broader Stake coverage: Forbes reports $4.7bn gross revenue for 2024, while Stake itself says it serves users across 169+ countries. Those two numbers give much better context to the Ireland story than simply calling it a “large crypto casino.”