Stake Casino faces an unexpected hurdle in its bid for an Australian gambling and betting license: its name. Join us as we dig into why a trading platform is claiming the crypto gambling platform has no right to use the name "stake" in Australia.
Cryptocurrency casinos are used to being at the centre of controversy, and Stake Casino is very comfortable leading the pack in this regard. The world-class crypto-first casino has assumed the mantle of industry spearhead and often challenges how things are done to promote the sector's maturation.
The multi-channel gambling site allows customers worldwide to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other popular virtual tokens to play instant slots and other casino games. With most gambling jurisdictions unsure about how to handle cryptocurrency compliance, this leaves Stake jumping through hoops for licensing, as has been the case with its entry into Australia.
Stake is Coming Home. Maybe?
It is no surprise that Stake.com is looking to offer its product in Australia when you consider that not only is the country a highly sought-after gambling market, but the site's co-founder, Ed Craven, is a proud Australian.
What has surprised most onlookers is that Stake is not looking to do business in Australia in a grey provider capacity but is applying for a license. The fact that Australia currently does not allow crypto-based gambling nor offshore online casinos raises some questions about which product Stake will offer.
They will likely pursue a sports betting license and launch a supplementary social casino in Australia like they did in the USA. To address the issue of cryptocurrency transacting, we could see them offer payments through Mastercard, Visa, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, which are the crypto-alternatives they currently provide.
A Rose by Any Other Name
As an offshoot of their drive to become legitimised in Australia, Stake.com finds itself at the centre of a lawsuit. The reasoning for the suit, however, might surprise you, as it has nothing to do with gambling or even cryptocurrency; instead, it has to do with naming rights.
The Australian Federal Court has been asked to block the crypto gambling platform from operating in the region under the name “Stake” by an investing and trading platform that uses the same name.
A Stake.com representative dismissed the case, saying:
Quote“This filing is a desperate attempt to spread false information and extort money over which the trading platform has no claim. The company does not intend to give in to this sort of blackmail and is confident that these utterly frivolous allegations will be dismissed by the court in due course.”
The trading platform in question is Stakeshop Pty Ltd, which trades in Australia as Stake. Despite their trading name, all their social media accounts and even their website address are “hellostake”, presumably as the gambling site had beat them to the punch in claiming the “stake” accounts.
What will make this case interesting is that both platforms were launched in Australia in 2017, meaning the judgement will come down to a list of legal technicalities and whether the presiding judge feels the trading platform has established its brand sufficiently in the country to override the gambling site's global claim to the brand name.
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