Casino Review

Stake Review 2026: 65% Trust Index, Full Test Results

Molly White

Molly White

Senior Casino Analyst

April 5, 20269 min

Molly White has spent five years investigating crypto casinos — testing withdrawals with real money, verifying licences with regulators, and publishing results without operator input. She leads the Trust Index scoring process at Honestroolets.

Withdrawal TestingLicence VerificationTrust Index Scoring

Stake scores 65% on our 2026 Trust Index, placing it in the Use Caution tier, ranked #4 across all 31+ casinos in our current review cycle. It operates on stake.com, holds a Curacao eGaming licence, and has been active since 2017. Our testing covered account registration, live deposits, withdrawal requests, and bonus term analysis.

This review is based on real-money testing. Everything documented here, including withdrawal times, KYC behaviour, and support interactions, reflects our direct experience with the platform. See our full testing methodology for how each category is scored.

Trust Index score: 65%

Our Trust Index scores casinos across six weighted categories: withdrawal speed (25%), licence validity (20%), bonus transparency (20%), game fairness (15%), complaint history (15%), and support quality (5%). Stake's 65% score reflects its performance across all six. A score of 65% or higher earns Safe Choice status. Stake did not reach this threshold in our 2026 review cycle.

For comparison, our Safe Choice casinos: Moonbet (73%), Duel (68%), and Cloudbet (67%) each cleared every checkpoint in our process. Stake did not meet every checkpoint, which is reflected in its final score.

Withdrawals: what we found in testing

We funded a real account and requested withdrawals at different amounts over our standard testing window. Stake processed withdrawals in 1-4 hours on average. This places it in the upper range for the Use Caution tier, but meaningfully slower than the Safe Choice casinos, where average withdrawal times are under 12 minutes.

Withdrawal speed carries the highest weight in our Trust Index at 25% of the total score. All three Safe Choice casinos on our list settled withdrawals in under 12 minutes during our testing. Stake's 1-4 hour range is functional, but it is not in the same category.

The minimum deposit on Stake is $1. Cryptocurrencies accepted include: BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, SOL, USDT, DOGE, BCH, EOS, XMR, and more.

Stake bonus and rewards structure

Stake offers no welcome bonus. VIP rakeback and weekly reload bonuses are available through an invite-only VIP program. The majority of players on the platform receive no ongoing return on their wagering volume. This is a structural disadvantage compared to our Safe Choice casinos, where rakeback is accessible to all players from their first session.

Our bonus transparency analysis checks for maximum bet clauses, game restrictions, and wagering requirement disclosure against the headline offer. Players should read the full bonus terms before claiming any offer on this platform. Our guide to reading casino T&Cs explains what to look for.

Game library: 3,000+ titles

Stake offers 3,000+ games. Its key features include: Highest-volume crypto casino globally by reported wager volume; Sports betting, esports, and casino on one wallet; and Provably Fair originals including Crash, Dice, Limbo, Plinko, and Hilo.

All partner games from established providers are audited for RTP by third-party certification agencies. Players should use the published RTP data to make informed game selections, particularly as Stake Engine titles (see below) carry self-reported figures only.

Stake licence and regulatory status

Stake holds a Curacao eGaming licence (Curacao (8048/JAZ)). We verified the licence number against the relevant regulator's public database during our testing. The licence was current as of April 2026. For a comparison of licence types and what each provides in player protection, see our licences explained guide.

Stake Engine: what it means for players

In the 2025-2026 period, Stake shifted significant product focus toward Stake Engine, its in-house game development studio producing proprietary originals. The intention is to reduce reliance on third-party providers and capture more margin on each bet. For players, the effect is the opposite of what the marketing suggests.

Stake Engine games are not independently audited for RTP by a third-party certification agency. Published return rates are self-reported by Stake. Third-party provider games from Evolution, Pragmatic Play, and similar studios carry external audits. When a casino pushes you toward its own unaudited titles, your position as a player weakens. You are trusting the operator's own numbers rather than an independent verification.

Beyond the audit issue, the Stake Engine push has coincided with a notable slowdown in meaningful product innovation. New features released over the past year have been largely cosmetic: updated interfaces and branding on existing game types. There is no new structural player benefit equivalent to lossback, no change to the VIP-only rakeback structure, and no expansion of the accessible rewards tier for regular players. Stake is a larger operation than it was in 2023, but a regular player on the platform today gets less per dollar wagered than they would have three years ago.

If your goal is maximising return per dollar wagered, the shift toward Stake Engine titles is a reason to be more cautious. Stick to the third-party provider games where RTP is independently verified, and be aware that Stake's promotional placements increasingly favour their own unaudited titles.

What Stake does well

  • Unmatched liquidity and infrastructure from the highest-volume operation in the space
  • Sports betting and esports coverage is the broadest in our entire review set
  • Provably Fair originals (pre-Stake Engine) are well-implemented with full seed verification available
  • Withdrawal processing in the 1-4 hour range, functional if slower than Safe Choice alternatives

What Stake does not do well

  • Stake Engine titles are self-audited: RTP figures are not independently verified by a third party
  • No meaningful innovation for regular players since 2023: VIP-only rakeback structure is unchanged
  • Geo-restricted in the US and several other major markets, verify availability before depositing
  • VIP rakeback is invite-only: the majority of players receive no ongoing return on volume
  • Curacao-only licence despite being the largest operation in the space
  • Product focus on margin capture via Stake Engine rather than player-facing value improvements

Stake verdict

Stake scores 65% on our 2026 Trust Index, placing it at the top of the Use Caution tier. It has proven infrastructure and a functional withdrawal record. But the platform has declined as a proposition for regular players: VIP-only rakeback remains locked, Stake Engine is pushing self-reported RTP titles to the front of the catalogue, and there has been no meaningful new benefit for non-VIP players in over a year. The gap between Stake and our Safe Choice tier has widened, not narrowed, since our 2025 cycle.

If you are looking for a casino that cleared every checkpoint in our process, the three Safe Choice platforms, Moonbet, Duel, and Cloudbet, all scored above 65% and passed every stage of our testing. See the full 31+ casino rankings for scores, verdicts, and details on every platform we reviewed.

Stake quick facts

  • Trust Index score: 65%
  • Verdict: Use Caution (#4 of 31+)
  • Bonus: No welcome bonus, VIP-only rakeback (invite only)
  • Games: 3,000+ (includes Stake Engine self-audited titles)
  • Cryptos: 20+ (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, SOL, USDT, DOGE, BCH, EOS, XMR, and more)
  • Minimum deposit: $1
  • Average withdrawal time (tested): 1-4 hours
  • Licence: Curacao eGaming
  • Established: 2017
  • Domain: stake.com
Community Watchdog Data

What Trustpilot users are saying

We cross-reference Trustpilot community feedback with our direct testing. Together they determine the complaint history component of the Trust Index.

2.4
Poor

460 reviews

Stake's Trustpilot score of 2.4 is notably low for its size. The high volume of account closure complaints is a significant data point. Our testing did not trigger any restrictions, but this pattern appears frequently enough in community data to affect the complaint history component of our Trust Index.

Recurring complaint themes on Trustpilot

  • Account closures without detailed explanation — multiple reports of players locked out of winnings
  • VIP-only access to meaningful rakeback — standard players feel the rewards system is exclusionary
  • US and many other geo-restrictions — some players discover access issues only after depositing
  • KYC triggered at withdrawal stage rather than registration — surprise verification requests
  • Support response times deteriorate significantly during high-volume periods

What Trustpilot reviewers praise

  • Fastest withdrawal processing among large platforms when accounts are in good standing
  • Provably Fair originals praised for transparency
  • Sports betting odds and coverage well-regarded

Trustpilot data verified April 2026. Scores can change. Community feedback is one input — not the only one.

See Trustpilot reviews

How Trustpilot factors into our Trust Index

Trustpilot data is one input into the complaint history component (15% weight). We cross-reference it with our direct testing, Reddit community threads, and AskGamblers complaint records. No single source overrides another. A casino with a poor Trustpilot score but clean testing results is treated differently from one where community data and testing both show the same pattern. Safe Choice status requires both.

Honestroolets Trust Index Rankings

We tested 31 crypto casinos. Only 3 earned Safe Choice status. See every score on the Honestroolets Trust Index.