Curaçao licence
A gambling licence from the Curaçao Gaming Authority. Lots of crypto casinos use it, and a new law changed the system in December 2024.
A lot of the offshore sites you'll find from Montreal, especially crypto casinos, have been licensed in Curaçao for years. Up until 2024, the typical site held a sublicence handed down by one of just a few master licence holders. People criticised that setup a lot because nobody was really watching.
The 2024 shake-up
A law called the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK for short, from the Dutch) started applying on 24 December 2024. No more master licences and sublicences. Now the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) licenses each operator directly. It has since released rules on how complaints are handled, on safer gaming and on ADR, meaning alternative dispute resolution.
What it means for you
- A Curaçao licence doesn't let a casino take players from places that need a local licence, like Ontario or Alberta.
- You can now file a formal complaint or go to ADR through the CGA. Whether that actually gets results is still unclear.
- Take the licence number from the casino's footer and look it up on the CGA's register.
Our take
A licence is the bare minimum, not a guarantee. It's one piece of the security and licensing score; the bigger piece is what our own payout tests show.