Stake.us

Is Stake.us safe?

Stake.us is a casino in all but name, and that is the main risk. You can play slots, live dealer tables and sports games with Stake Cash that turns into dollars or cryptocurrency, but the site holds no state gambling licence, so none of the audits or complaint routes of a regulated casino protect you. Five state regulators have told it to stop, and two government suits are pending. It does better than its rivals on account security, offering multi-factor log-in. We score Stake.us 44/100, level with Fliff and above Chumba Casino at 40.

The iPhone app, released in February 2025, ranked 13th among free casino apps and 79th by revenue in Apple's US charts on 28 October 2026.

How Stake.us works

Stake.us uses the dual-currency model common to sweepstakes casinos. Gold Coins are for play only and are what you buy. Stake Cash comes free with Gold Coin packs, as bonuses or by a mailed request card, and can be redeemed at "an implied rate of 1 Stake Cash per 1 USD". Apart from Stake Cash won in promotions, it must be played three times before it can be redeemed, and every redemption needs identity checks.

Crypto is what sets Stake.us apart. You can buy with dollars or a supported cryptocurrency, but you must redeem in the cryptocurrency you bought with: buy with Bitcoin and your prize comes back in Bitcoin. The terms leave it to you to check that your wallet can receive the coins, and a crypto transfer sent to the wrong address cannot be pulled back. The operator, Sweepsteaks Limited, is registered in Cyprus with a US mailing address in Dallas.

Which states have acted against Stake.us?

Maryland's gaming agency wrote to "Sweepstakes Limited d/b/a Stake.us" on 7 May 2024, saying it had no licence and asking it to confirm within weeks that it would stop. In June 2025 the Arizona Department of Gaming ordered Stake.us and several other unlicensed operators to shut down at once, calling their operations alleged felony criminal enterprises, according to SBC Americas. Louisiana's Gaming Control Board lists the company among operators sent cease-and-desist letters, and Tennessee's Attorney General named Stake among about 40 sweepstakes casinos that agreed to stop in December 2025.

On 4 February 2026 the Illinois Gaming Board wrote that it had seen Stake.us offer slots, table games and sports wagering on 12 January that let users "win cash and crypto currency in violation of Illinois law". All five states now appear on the terms' list of 22 excluded states.

Two government suits are pending, and a city has sued too. In August 2025 the Los Angeles City Attorney sued Stake.US, several game studios, the identity-check firm Veriff and the streaming site Kick in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging illegal gambling and false advertising. Baltimore sued Stake.us and five other operators in March 2026, alleging weak age checks and designs that appeal to young people; the city sued for itself, not for the public, so we treat its suit as context. On 19 August 2026 Florida's Attorney General sued Stake and its co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, seeking to shut it down in Florida, restitution and penalties. These are allegations so far. Under our rules, five orders and two suits brought by public officials put the regulatory record at 36.

What data does Stake.us collect?

The App Store label is short: identifiers are used to track you across other companies' apps, and contact details and identifiers are linked to you. The privacy policy tells a fuller story. For prize checks Stake collects Social Security and driver's licence numbers and a selfie run through third-party facial recognition, with biometric data kept for up to three years after your last contact. It also lists precise location, browsing and search history, crypto wallet addresses and data from Facebook.

The policy also says Stake does not share data "for cross-context behavioral advertising", while Apple's label says identifiers are used to track you. We score on the broader of the two. One section still shows a placeholder retention period of "[12] months", which does not inspire confidence that anyone checked the text.

Security and harm tools

On security Stake.us is ahead of its peers. Its terms tell players to turn on multi-factor authenticationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary, and the responsible play page suggests it for households where minors use the same device. We found no reported breach and no public bug bounty.

The harm tools are partly self-service. In the Responsible Gaming tab you can take a break of 24 hours, 48 hours, 7 or 30 days, or 2 or 3 months; you can still log in and redeem, but not play, and the break cannot be ended early. Self-exclusion cuts off log-in, play and redemptions for at least six months and is followed by a review. We found no tool to cap purchases, which Chumba Casino does offer. Players can also talk to each other in a public chat.

Who should be careful

1. Anyone in one of the 22 excluded states: the terms treat play from there as a "material misrepresentation" and fraud.
2. Crypto users. Check the wallet address and network twice, and remember you must redeem in the coin you used to buy.
3. Anyone worried about overspending: there is no purchase cap, so set a break in the Responsible Gaming tab or self-exclude.
4. Everyone: turn on multi-factor log-in and choose "Ask App Not to Track" on iPhone.

How we scored it

Regulatory record (36) is the weakest factor: five state orders and two pending government suits, though no fine. Privacy (38) and scams and harmful content (38) follow, reflecting ID and face data, a label that understates the policy, and real-money play with crypto and a public chat. Security (55) is the strongest, lifted by multi-factor log-in and a clean breach record.