Stake Lands in Italy: Why It Might Not Be a Crypto Option for You

Category: News Written by Matteo Conti, Crypto Gambling Analyst, MiglioriCasinoCrypto.com

If you are searching for "stake casino italia" you have probably seen the news: in December 2025, Stake officially launched in Italy. But before registering thinking you will find the same crypto-native Stake you know globally, it is worth understanding exactly what is happening, because the story is more complex than a simple new market opening.

Exactly what an ADM concession is, how it is checked and who does not have one, is explained in ADM concession. The brands that accept cryptocurrencies without having one are compared in best Bitcoin casinos in Italy. The full comparison is in migliori casinò Bitcoin.

How Stake Came About: The Story in Brief

Stake has a longer history than many think. In 2013, co-founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani (together with Chris Freeman) launched Primedice, a dice gambling site that laid the foundations for everything that would come afterwards. In 2016, Craven and Tehrani founded Easygo in Melbourne, a games development company for online casinos. The following year, in 2017, Stake.com was officially born, under a Curacao licence, initially a casino based entirely on crypto, with a small selection of proprietary Originals games.

The timing helped: 2017 was also the year of the big Bitcoin rally, and Stake rode that wave. From there, growth was rapid: in 2022, betting volume reached 2.6 billion dollars; by mid-2024, the total number of bets placed had passed 253 billion (against 65 billion in 2022). Today Stake sponsors the Formula 1 team Kick Sauber, Drake, and clubs such as Everton.

International Expansion, Market by Market

Stake has expanded steadily into regulated markets, often acquiring already licensed local operators instead of launching from scratch:

• December 2021 – launch in the United Kingdom, in partnership with TGP Europe
• 2023 – acquisition of Betfair Colombia
• January 2024 – acquisition of IDEALBET.IT, an Italian online casino of the Octavian group, specialising in cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum, without fiat currency)
• 2025 – licence in Brazil and acquisition of Mocinoplay in Denmark
• First half of 2026 – expansion into Greenland and Mexico
• December 2025 – official launch in Italy, presented by Fabio Angeli Bufalini, Country Director for Italy, as a "regulatory-first" operation built specifically for the Italian regulatory framework

The Detail That Really Counts for Crypto Players

Here is the point that most of the news about the Italian launch does not explain clearly. When Stake entered the United Kingdom in 2021, it did so only in fiat currency – users of Stake.com's UK site cannot use cryptocurrencies at all, according to the brand's public documentation.

We have not found direct and specific confirmation that the Italian launch of December 2025 follows exactly the same model, but the UK precedent and the "regulatory-first tailored to the Italian framework" language used by Bufalini strongly suggest a similar direction: an operation designed to work inside the ADM rules, which, as we have explained elsewhere on this site, do not recognise cryptocurrencies as a valid payment method for public gaming. If this model is confirmed, the official and regulated "Stake Italia" could be, in fact, a completely different product from the global crypto casino the name is associated with.

This is exactly the kind of detail we keep repeating on this site: the brand name does not guarantee that the experience is the same everywhere.

Crypto Alternatives for Italian Players

If what you are looking for is specifically a casino where you can deposit and withdraw in Bitcoin or USDT, here is where to look instead:

Vave – A library of over 6,000 games, a full sportsbook, over 80 cryptocurrencies supported including BTC, ETH and USDT. Welcome bonus of 150% up to 1.5 BTC plus 100 free spins on the first deposit. (Detailed Analysis – Not Personally Tested)

Bitz – Registration with an email address alone, strong sports coverage, over 10 cryptocurrencies supported. (Detailed Analysis – Not Personally Tested)

7BitCasino – Established since 2014, one of the most generous welcome packages in the sector. (Detailed Analysis – Not Personally Tested)

BC.Game – Crypto-native since 2017, over 150 cryptocurrencies supported, a library of over 10,000 games. (Detailed Analysis – Not Personally Tested)

All of these operate under foreign licences (Curacao, Anjouan) and are not part of the ADM system – read our deep dive on the Italian legal position before depositing anywhere.

How Big Is Crypto Gambling Really Today?

The figures vary a good deal depending on the source, and some estimates seem genuinely unreliable, so it is better to be honest about the most cited figure rather than pick the most impressive number. Several independent sources converge on an estimate of over 65 billion dollars for the crypto gambling sector in 2026, with stablecoins (USDT and USDC) handling over 70% of all crypto betting-related transactions. Other sources cite higher figures (up to 92 billion), but we have not found enough consensus to treat them as definitive.

There is no reliable, single figure on the exact number of players in crypto gambling specifically – unlike the total number of online bettors in the world (estimated at around 1.6 billion), crypto gambling operates largely outside regulated tracking systems, so any precise figure should be taken with caution.

Why We Are Writing About This on MiglioriCasinoCrypto.com

This is exactly the kind of news we want to cover on MiglioriCasinoCrypto.com: not just "Stake has arrived in Italy," but what it really means for a player looking specifically for a crypto experience. We check licences directly, we clearly distinguish between what we have tested and what we have analysed from independent sources, and we update the content when the regulatory situation changes – as is clearly happening right now with Stake's entry into the Italian market.

18+. Gambling carries financial risk. This article is for information and does not constitute legal or financial advice.