Curacao has temporarily extended gambling licenses for offshore sportsbooks and offshore casinos for six months while new regulations are put in place.
Sites with “Green Seal B2C” or B2B provisional licenses, originally valid to 24 June 2025, have been extended six more months to 24 December 2025, giving operators time to fully comply with new regulations.
In December last year, Curacao enacted its National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK), shifting from the old master/sub-license model to a more centralized system under the Curacao Gaming Authority (CGA).
Curacao An Offshore Haven For Gambling Companies
The Dutch Caribbean territory is the host to many offshore betting sites due to its favorable tax rates for gambling companies. Curacao is officially under the control of the Netherlands, and foreign affairs are managed by the Dutch government. However, it is self-governing, with its own Prime Minister and parliament, and, crucially, is able to set its own tax rates.
For gambling companies, this results in low rates of 2% of net profits, no tax on gaming revenue, and annual license fees of €24,600 ($28,000). For comparison, New York, which has the highest tax rate in the US, places a 51% levy on gaming revenue, charges $25 million for a license, and on top of that, companies still have to pay 27.5% in corporation tax.
Stake, one of the leading offshore casinos, generated $4.7 billion in revenue last year, with an estimated profit of around $1 billion. Licensed in Curacao, the company paid around $20 million in taxes, but if based in New York, that would have been around $2.6 billion.
Given this, it is no surprise that there are around 450 casinos that hold their licenses in Curacao. The new regulations could reduce that, however, with companies forced to apply directly to the CGA to obtain a license.
Changes In Curacao License Structure
The new license regulations place more obligations on companies. Firstly, the end of the master license system creates more oversight by the CGA. Previously, there were four master license holders: Antillephone NV, Curaçao Interactive Licensing NV, Gaming Curaçao NV, and eGaming Curaçao (Cyberluck).
Under this system, the master license holders often neglected their responsibility to penalize operators who did not comply with regulations. For example, a Turkish player won around 620,000 TRY ($17,574) playing at Bahsine, an online casino operated by Trigonon Group NV and licensed by Cyberluck. After the player requested a withdrawal, Bahsine closed the account without paying out the winnings.
The Curaçao Common Court of Justice and later the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Cyberluck and Trigonon share responsibility to fulfill the player’s winnings.
Cyberluck contested the ruling, claiming such liability would be “unreasonable and unfair”, but a Dutch court upheld the ruling. Eventually, Cyberluck declared bankruptcy, unable to pay its liabilities.
This case indicated the need for further oversight, and under the new system, the CGA will control all licenses. The regulator states that the new regulations will be more in line with international standards around dispute resolution and anti-money laundering rules.
The extension of licenses for six months allows operators to comply with the new rules. If they are deemed to be following the new standards, then permanent licenses will be issued.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling. Adam focuses on emerging stories in the ever changing landscape of betting in the US. Read the latest on prediction markets, changing legislation, and sweepstakes.
