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In September 2026, a large set of internal documents from the Curaçao Gaming Authority became public, and a group of newsrooms including the Guardian began reporting on the content.
Many of the crypto casinos people use are licensed in Curaçao so it’s important for players to know what’s disputed, and what a Curaçao licence does and doesn’t tell you before you deposit.
What was released
The material comes from the CGA’s licensing systems, obtained through unauthorised access over roughly nine months starting in December 2025 by Berlin-based security researcher and journalist Lilith Wittmann.
A consortium of outlets, including Follow the Money, Germany’s NDR, Norway’s NRK, Sweden’s SVT, Austria’s Jetzt and STRG_F, worked through the files, and the Guardian has published its own reporting. A searchable public archive went live on September 23.
The archive and consortium reporting indicate the size of the material involved:
| Reported figure | Details |
| 84,000+ | Documents from Curaçao, according to the archive |
| 40,000+ | Documents searchable through the public archive |
| ~800 | Owners reportedly identified in the files |
| ~650 | Licensed companies reportedly tied to those owners |
| 8,000+ | Licensed casino domains noted by the archive |
The scale matters, but appearing in the files is not itself evidence of wrongdoing.
The Curaçao Gaming Authority oversees the licensing framework used by many online casino operators, making its licensing records central to the questions raised by the leaked files.
How the material was obtained is itself contested
The CGA has called the access a serious breach under Curaçao law and said it would report it to the relevant authorities.
Wittmann’s position is that there was a legitimate public interest in revealing who owns and finances these operators.
Wittmann also accessed a Malta Gaming Authority system in March 2026, and the MGA took civil action against her in Berlin.
In interim injunction proceedings, she says the court barred her from accessing the MGA’s systems again but let her keep using documents she had already obtained and repeat her criticism of the regulator.
That was a civil proceeding, not a criminal one.
The MGA hasn’t confirmed her account and the judgment isn’t public, so her description is the only account of the outcome, and it says nothing about the Curaçao material.
What’s disputed
Companies named in the reporting dispute the findings.
SoftSwiss, the software supplier, says it doesn’t run casinos and compares its role to that of an office-software vendor.
The CGA has said the “network” described in some reporting, roughly 1,000 domains that reporters attributed to a SoftSwiss-linked group, was fabricated.
They also claim broadcaster that it keeps no such classification.
What a Curaçao License Does, and Doesn’t, Tell You
A license is a signal, not a guarantee, and the registry shows that directly
The CGA’s public licence registry, as reported on September 21, lists several of the companies named in the coverage with indefinite licenses. Stake’s operator, Medium Rare N.V., is marked “assessment in progress.”
The registry doesn’t explain what that status means, so we’re not reading more into it than that.
But it’s a good illustration of something worth knowing: two casinos that both say “licensed in Curaçao” can be in different positions on the regulator’s own register.
Verification has been thin in places
The Guardian’s reporter describes finding, in one application, a source of company funds that amounted to a single line about cryptocurrency investments.
The consortium also reports that the regulator granted licenses in some cases even when questions about ownership went unanswered.
These are examples from a very large data set, not a measure of how typical they are, but they’re relevant to how much weight a license badge should carry on its own.
A license matters to casinos for reasons beyond players
The Guardian’s reporter argues that Curaçao became the go-to jurisdiction because it offered “just enough respectability without any real scrutiny” .
It’s enough for banks, payment providers, and game studios to point to a license as justification for working with an operator.
That’s a different function from protecting a player who has a dispute.
Curaçao itself has been tightening
In June 2026, the CGA issued stricter guidance for crypto casinos, including wallet-segregation requirements phased in through June 2027.
The Guardian reports that as Curaçao has become somewhat more rigorous, some operators have moved to jurisdictions with lighter rules, including Kahnawake, Tobique, and Anjouan.
Recourse is the practical difference
The Guardian’s reporter is clear that unlicensed operators offer no safeguards and that some have refused to pay out winnings with no legal recourse for the player.
A Curaçao licence offers more than nothing, there’s a regulator and a dispute process, but it’s narrower than what a licensed operator in a stricter jurisdiction has to provide.
The file is not evidence of wrongdoing
Being in the files is not evidence that a casino has done anything wrong.
The archive says so itself.
A regulator’s questions about an application aren’t findings, the files reflect what applicants told the regulator and may be incomplete or out of date, and companies named in the reporting have responded.
If a casino you use appears in the archive, that’s a reason to read the underlying document carefully, not a conclusion.
Five checks worth doing before you deposit
Look up the licensing company in the CGA’s public registry and match the license number and company name to the details in the casino’s footer and terms. Note the status shown, not just that a license exists.
Check who owns it. Try to ascertain the actual owner and any understand their background if possible.
Know who resolves disputes and how. Independent complaint platforms show how a casino has handled payout disputes in practice.
Keep balances modest and withdraw regularly. That’s sensible with any operator whose recourse is limited.
If you’ve self-excluded in regulated registries, offshore casinos aren’t covered. Curaçao-licensed operators aren’t part of national schemes like GamStop, but check to see if they have their own self-exclusion system.
The post What the Curaçao Leak Means for Crypto Casino Players appeared first on BitcoinChaser.
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