Sample report · Sweepstakes
Stake.us
A US sweepstakes brand run by Easygo's Cyprus-registered Sweepsteaks Limited. Named defendant in a Los Angeles City Attorney enforcement action and federal class actions in at least nine states.
Section 1
Executive snapshot
Multiple converging US enforcement actions against Stake.us specifically — but operator chain is transparent and no final adverse judgments yet.
- LA City Attorney suit filed Aug 28, 2025 — UCL + FAL claims, seeks injunction + restitution.
- Federal class actions pending in 9+ states (IL, CA, MN, MO, MS, NM, UT, VA, OH).
- 50-AG petition to DOJ (Aug 5, 2025) named Stake among likely federal targets.
- Operator chain identifiable: Sweepsteaks Ltd → Easygo → Craven & Tehrani.
View full snapshot
Stake.us is the US-facing sweepstakes product of the Easygo group, the Australian-founded operator best known for the offshore crypto-casino Stake.com. The two products are legally separate entities — Stake.us is run by Sweepsteaks Limited (Cyprus HE 436222, registered 2022-07-06), while Stake.com is operated by Medium Rare N.V. under a Curaçao license claim that we could not independently verify against the primary register.
The aggregate stays at HIGH (not SEVERE) because no proceeding has yet produced a final adverse judgment and the operator chain is identifiable. Consumer-facing reputation skews positive on Trustpilot. The dominant signal is regulatory: active US enforcement actions against Stake.us specifically.
Section 2
License verification
Operator entity verified at the Cyprus registry. Sister-brand Curaçao license could not be confirmed against the primary register.
- Stake.us: Sweepsteaks Limited (Cyprus HE 436222) VERIFIED — but legal classification as sweepstakes vs unlicensed gambling is contested in 9+ lawsuits.
- Stake.com (sister): Claim is Curaçao OGL/2024/1451/0918, Medium Rare N.V. — primary CGB register page returned access errors; no independent confirmation obtained.
View Claim-vs-Verified table
| Jurisdiction | Claim | Verified result |
|---|---|---|
| US (Stake.us) | Operates as sweepstakes; no US gambling license claimed. | Operator entity confirmed; legal classification contested — Sweepsteaks Limited Cyprus HE 436222, active, registered 2022-07-06. |
| Curaçao (sister Stake.com) | License OGL/2024/1451/0918 to Medium Rare N.V. (Curaçao reg 145353). | COULD_NOT_VERIFY — primary register access-restricted; only secondary-source corroboration available. |
Section 3
Regulatory risk
Active enforcement against Stake.us in multiple US jurisdictions plus sister-brand on multiple non-US blocklists.
- LA City Attorney v. Stake.us (Aug 28, 2025) — UCL + FAL, seeks injunction + restitution + civil penalties.
- Federal class actions in IL, CA, MN, MO, MS, NM, UT, VA, OH alleging Gold Coin / Stake Cash structure = illegal gambling.
- Sister brand Stake.com on Switzerland Gespa blocklist (added 2021 batch). Illegal in Australia under IGA 2001.
- NY AG action June 6, 2025 listed 26 operators — Stake.us not named (cited for category context only).
View enforcement details
LA City Attorney v. Stake.us. Filed in the Superior Court of California against Stake.us alongside game suppliers Evolution, Pragmatic Play, and Hacksaw Gaming. Alleges the platform "is unlicensed and is operating in violation of State law"; relief sought includes injunction, restitution of California players' losses, and civil penalties.
Federal enforcement signal. 50 state attorneys general sent a bipartisan letter to US AG Pam Bondi (Aug 5, 2025) urging DOJ action against offshore gambling operators. Stake cited as likely target. Coalition asked DOJ to pursue UIGEA injunctive relief and coordinate with payment processors.
ACMA Australia: Stake.com is illegal under IGA 2001 with ACMA actively blocking. We attempted to read the ACMA blocked-sites page directly but the page would not render via our fetch tool; the AU-illegality finding is based on secondary-source legal-status corroboration.
Section 4
Ownership & domain
Operator chain unusually transparent for the offshore-adjacent category. Domain established 2002, locked with corporate brand-protection registrar.
- Domain: stake.us registered 2002-04-24 (22+ years), MarkMonitor (IANA 292), GlobalBlock+ brand-protection lock.
- Chain: Sweepsteaks Ltd (Cyprus) → Easygo (Australia, 2016) → founders Ed Craven & Bijan Tehrani.
- Sanctions: No public hits surfaced (not exhaustively checked).
- Safe Browsing: Status not independently retrieved.
View full domain & corporate chain
| Domain field | Value |
|---|---|
| Registered | 2002-04-24 |
| Registrar | MarkMonitor, Inc. (IANA 292) |
| Brand-protection lock | GlobalBlock+ active |
| Registration locks | clientDeleteProhibited + Transfer + Update + server-side |
| Nameservers | Cloudflare (since 2014) |
| Registrant | REDACTED · country = Cyprus |
| Safe Browsing | UNKNOWN — not retrieved |
Note: the 2002 domain registration predates the Stake.us brand launch in 2022. The mismatch reflects MarkMonitor having held the domain in brand-protection portfolio prior to the Easygo product launch — not suspicious.
Section 5
Complaints & disputes
Stake.us-specific complaint data thin. Sister-brand Stake.com shows documented KYC-at-withdrawal pattern on AskGamblers.
- AskGamblers "Stake Casino" index covers Stake.com (sister), not Stake.us directly.
- Pattern (sister brand): smooth deposits → verification walls at withdrawal → funds locked during Level 3-4 KYC.
- Resolution split: ≈9 resolved (after escalation) / ≈9 rejected / 2 open at observation.
View complaint analysis
The recurring sister-brand pattern is consistent: smooth deposits, then verification walls or extended Level 3 (proof-of-address) and Level 4 (source-of-funds) KYC review at withdrawal time, with funds locked pending resolution.
This describes Stake.com under its own terms and jurisdictional regime, not Stake.us — but the brands share ownership and operational infrastructure, making the pattern relevant context rather than direct evidence. Direct Stake.us complaint volume in public aggregators is comparatively low.
Section 6
Terms & withdrawal
Standard sweepstakes mechanics with a notable Florida per-day cap. Deep clause extraction was blocked (terms page returned HTTP 403).
- 3× playthrough on Stake Cash before redemption.
- Min redemption: $20-$50 worth of SC (crypto: 45 SC min).
- Florida residents: hard $5,000/day max redemption.
- Processing: 48h average, stated as "not guaranteed".
- Discretionary clause: operator can set minimum redemption thresholds generally.
View limitation note
A deeper enumeration of risk-tier T&C clauses (irregular play, void-at-discretion, dormancy fees, max-bet during bonus) was not possible for this report — direct fetches of stake.us/policies/terms returned HTTP 403, likely a Cloudflare bot-mitigation response. The mechanics summarized above are documented across multiple secondary review sources that cite the operator terms.
Section 7
Public reputation
Trustpilot aggregate skews positive (4.4★, ~15,800 reviews). Negative cluster centers on game-integrity allegations and "unregulated" framing.
- Trustpilot: 4.4/5 across ~15,822 reviews. 77% 5-star, 8% 1-star.
- Positive cluster: fast crypto redemptions repeatedly cited.
- Negative cluster: rigged-game allegations, "completely unregulated" framing, unexplained restrictions.
View weighting note
Trustpilot's susceptibility to operator-side curation and review-gating, and historical scrutiny of its hosting of unlicensed-gambling reviews, means this signal is weighted as a sentiment indicator rather than as proof of legitimacy. The negative-cluster themes are more informative than the headline aggregate score.
Section 8
Final verdict
High-risk indicators found. Active US public enforcement is the dominant signal. Sister-brand license verification limitations are material. Operator transparency is the meaningful mitigator.
- Take seriously: LA City Attorney suit + 9-state class actions + 50-AG DOJ petition.
- Take with care: Sister-brand Curaçao license could not be primary-source verified.
- Weighs in mitigation: Operator chain identifiable across Cyprus, Curaçao, Australia.
- Not SEVERE: No final adverse judgments; operator chain transparent.
View final-assessment prose
The single most consequential fact a prospective depositor should weigh is the volume of active US public enforcement: a major US city's enforcement action against Stake.us, federal class actions in nine states, and the brand cited in a 50-AG petition to the US Department of Justice. None of these proceedings has yet produced a final adverse judgment — but the volume and jurisdictional spread are materially elevated even relative to other US sweepstakes operators.
The aggregate verdict is HIGH, not SEVERE. SEVERE is reserved for cases with multiple converging primary-source red flags — operator on multiple national regulator blocklists, no verifiable license, sanctions overlap. Stake.us is not in that category at this time.
What we could not verify
- Current active status of Stake.com Curaçao license OGL/2024/1451/0918 against primary CGB register.
- Specific stake.com entry on the ACMA Australia blocked-sites list (page would not render via fetch).
- Deep enumeration of T&C risk clauses (terms page returned HTTP 403).
- Google Safe Browsing status for stake.us.
- Exhaustive OFAC / UK / EU / OpenSanctions checks on the named individuals or operator entities.
- Outcomes of any pending class action or the LA City Attorney action — all pending at report date.
- Stake.us-specific KYC dispute resolution rates.
Sources (17)
- VERIFIED LA City Attorney — Lawsuit Against Online Gambling Enterprise, Stake.us (Aug 28 2025) · cityattorney.lacity.gov
- VERIFIED NAAG — Coalition of AGs Urges DOJ Crackdown on Offshore Gambling (Aug 5 2025) · naag.org
- VERIFIED KCTV5 — Lawsuit targets Stake, Drake for alleged illegal gambling scheme (Oct 28 2025) · kctv5.com
- VERIFIED Deadspin — Ohio class-action accuses Stake.us · deadspin.com
- VERIFIED GamblingHarm — Stake US sued in multiple states · gamblingharm.org
- CLAIMED Stake.us — Terms & Conditions · stake.us/policies/terms · note: direct fetch HTTP 403; mechanics via secondary sources
- USER-REPORTED Trustpilot — Stake US reviews · 4.4/5 across ~15,822 reviews · trustpilot.com/review/stake.us
- USER-REPORTED AskGamblers — Stake Casino complaints · note: covers Stake.com (sister brand) · askgamblers.com
- USER-REPORTED SportsGrid — Who Owns Stake · sportsgrid.com
- VERIFIED Strafe — Is Stake legal in Australia? · cites IGA 2001 + ACMA · strafe.com
- VERIFIED Snell & Wilmer — Banned, Fined, and Redefined: The 2025 State Crackdown · swlaw.com
- VERIFIED NY AG — Stops Illegal Online Sweepstakes Casinos (Jun 6 2025) · Stake.us NOT among 26 named operators · ag.ny.gov
- VERIFIED .us registry RDAP — stake.us registration data · rdap.nic.us/domain/stake.us
- VERIFIED Cyprus Registrar — SWEEPSTEAKS LTD HE 436222 · companiesregistry.cy
- VERIFIED Gespa Switzerland — Access blocking · current blocklist PDF 2026-03-24 · gespa.ch
- CLAIMED Stake.com — Licensing Information · cites OGL/2024/1451/0918 · stake.com/licenses
- VERIFIED Curaçao GCB — License register · primary register page; access errors when queried · cga.cw