Risks and limits
By Lotte van Leeuwen · Regulation and Player Safety Writer
Stake operates under a Curacao Gaming Authority licence, OGL/2024/1451/0918, held by Medium Rare N.V., and covers 30 sports including football, basketball, tennis, baseball, hockey, and esports — that licence and that sports count are the factual baseline for everything below.
What the Curacao Licence Does and Does Not Cover
The licence number OGL/2024/1451/0918 identifies the entity behind Stake as Medium Rare N.V., registered in Curacao. For a player in the Netherlands, this matters in a specific way: the licence is issued by the Curacao Gaming Authority, not by the Dutch regulator. The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) maintains its own licensing regime for operators targeting Dutch residents, and a Curacao licence is not the same instrument. That distinction is the first limit on this page — it is about where the operator is licensed, not about whether Dutch law permits you to use it.
The same structure applies across the market. Cloudbet holds a Curacao Gaming Authority licence, OGL/2024/328/0599. Thunderpick holds a Curacao licence and has been operating since 2017. Dexsport operates under an Anjouan licence through Dexapp LTD. None of these are Dutch licences, and none of them should be read as such.
Verification Requirements Before You Can Withdraw
Stake requires level 2 verification, and it is mandatory before any withdrawal. This is not a step that can be deferred — the account can be opened and used, but funds do not leave until verification is complete. Withdrawals then take 0–2 days after approval.
KYC posture differs by operator, and the difference is material for anyone weighing anonymity against access:
| Operator | KYC requirement | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Stake | Yes — level 2 verification mandatory before any withdrawal | Curacao Gaming Authority, OGL/2024/1451/0918 |
| Cloudbet | Partial — checks applied only when required | Curacao Gaming Authority, OGL/2024/328/0599 |
| Dexsport | No — anonymous entry via Web3 wallets | Anjouan licence, Dexapp LTD |
| Thunderpick | Not specified in the source material | Curacao licence, operating since 2017 |
Thunderpick's KYC terms are not covered by the facts available here, so no position is taken on them. The blank is left as a blank.
Going with the top entry? Start with its withdrawal rules — that is where a ranking and the experience tend to part ways.
See Dexsport's marketsCurrency and Payment Rails
Stake supports 21 coins. Cloudbet supports 30+. Dexsport supports 85+ across 20+ blockchains. Thunderpick supports 5 — BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT, XRP and more. Thunderpick's withdrawal time is listed as instant.
For a Dutch user, the practical constraint is not the count of coins but the route between a euro bank account and a crypto balance. Dutch banks apply their own rules to transfers to and from crypto platforms, and those rules sit outside the operator's licence entirely. A Curacao licence says nothing about whether a given Dutch bank will process a given transfer. That is a separate risk layer, and it belongs to the bank relationship, not the betting account.
Market Depth Versus Market Breadth
Stake covers 30 sports. Cloudbet covers 5 — football, basketball, tennis, MMA, esports. Thunderpick covers 3, with an esports focus and limited traditional sports.
A narrower sports list is not automatically a defect. Thunderpick's esports concentration means depth in one category and thin coverage elsewhere. Cloudbet's five-sport list means the major markets are present but the long tail is not. Stake's 30-sport list spreads coverage wider. Which of these is a limit depends on what you actually bet on — the number itself only tells you how many categories exist, not how deep any one of them goes.
Time Zone and Local Access
Dutch time is CET/CEST, and live betting windows, settlement times, and support hours are set by the operator's own schedule, not by yours. The facts here do not specify support hours or settlement timing for any of these operators, so no claim is made about them. What can be said is structural: a withdrawal listed as taking 0–2 days after approval at Stake, or as instant at Thunderpick, is measured from approval — the approval step itself depends on verification being complete, which loops back to the KYC requirement above.
The limits on this page are therefore three: a non-Dutch licence, a verification gate before withdrawal, and a payment path that runs through Dutch banking rules the operator does not control. Each is a fact about structure, not a prediction about outcome.
Things people ask us
Does the Curacao licence held by Stake cover a Dutch player under Kansspelautoriteit rules?
No. The licence is issued by the Curacao Gaming Authority to Medium Rare N.V., not by the Dutch regulator, and it should not be read as a Dutch licence.
What must a Dutch user complete before Stake releases any withdrawal?
Stake requires level 2 verification, and it is mandatory before any withdrawal. Funds do not leave the account until verification is complete.
How many sports does Stake cover compared with Cloudbet and Thunderpick?
Stake covers 30 sports, Cloudbet covers 5, and Thunderpick covers 3 with an esports focus. A narrower list is not automatically a defect, but the long tail is absent where the count is lower.
What is the practical payment constraint for a Dutch user on these platforms?
The route between a euro bank account and a crypto balance is controlled by Dutch banking rules, not by the operator's licence. A Curacao licence says nothing about whether a given Dutch bank will process a given transfer.
Which operator in the comparison allows anonymous entry through Web3 wallets?
Dexsport allows anonymous entry via Web3 wallets and lists no KYC requirement. Stake requires level 2 verification before withdrawal, and Cloudbet applies checks only when required.