What changed with the LOK
#Under the old framework, dating from 1993, four private master-licence holders sub-licensed hundreds of sites with minimal oversight, which is how Curaçao became the default home of the unregulated end of the industry. The National Ordinance on Games of Chance, the LOK, entered into force on 24 December 2024, abolished that system, and made a public authority, the Curaçao Gaming Authority, the sole issuer of licences. Legacy sub-licences expired in 2025.
Every operator now holds a direct licence from the CGA, with its own application, its own compliance obligations and its own entry in a public register. The reform was a condition of Dutch financial support to Curaçao, and its stated aim is precisely the consumer protection the old system lacked.
What the licence guarantees you
#The new regime brings direct accountability: a named licensee the CGA can sanction, a public register to check, and a complaints channel at the regulator, none of which meaningfully existed under the master-licence system. Licensed sites carry a seal linking to a live certificate on the CGA's verification portal.
That is a real improvement, and it should be sized correctly: the regime is new, its enforcement record is short, and its obligations remain lighter than those of the UKGC, the MGA or the national European regulators.
What it does not do
#There is no cross-operator self-exclusion register, no deposit or wagering caps, and no independent dispute resolution service of the kind GB licensees must offer. Player funds protection obligations are not comparable to the segregation and disclosure regimes elsewhere on this list.
Curaçao remains the licence of choice for crypto casinos and for sites serving markets they are not locally licensed for. A CGA licence tells you the site is not anonymous; it does not tell you your own country's protections apply, because they do not.
How to check a licence
#The CGA publishes its licence register on cga.cw, and licensed sites display a seal that links to a certificate on the authority's own verification portal. A Curaçao licence claim without a working seal and a register entry is the oldest trick in this industry: under the new system, both are checkable in a minute.
Questions, answered
Is a Curaçao licence trustworthy now?
More than before, less than the others on this list. The LOK created direct licensing, a public register and a regulator that can sanction, which is real progress. The regime is young, its enforcement record short, and it still lacks the player protections national European regulators impose.
Why do so many crypto casinos hold this licence?
Historically because it was the cheapest and least demanding licence available, and its obligations on identity checks and payments fit crypto operations. The reform tightened entry, but the gap with stricter regimes is exactly why the licence remains popular with sites that would not qualify elsewhere.
The old master licences are gone. What happened to sites that had them?
Sub-licences under the old system expired in 2025. Operators either obtained a direct CGA licence under the LOK, moved to another jurisdiction, or continue without a licence, which is precisely what the register lets you check.
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