Curaçao License Curaçao Gaming Authority

Overview

Curaçao is an island country in the southern Caribbean, north of Venezuela, and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its population is about 160,000. It has issued online gambling licenses since the 1990s, and because it was cheap and fast, it was for a long time the license used by the most online casinos in the world.

However, as criticism of lax supervision and pressure from international anti-money laundering standards grew, Curaçao significantly changed its system by putting the new National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) into effect on December 24, 2024. Today the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) issues and supervises all licenses directly.

History

Old system: master licenses

In the past, the government granted master licenses to a small number of companies, and those companies in turn issued sub-licenses to many operators. There were only four master license holders, but hundreds of casinos operated under sub-licenses beneath them.

This approach was fast and cheap, but it had the limitation that the government could not directly supervise the actual operators. It was criticized because resolving player disputes was difficult and it was hard to know which company was really running a site.

New system: LOK

Costs and requirements

A single B2C license lets you operate every vertical, including casino, sports betting, poker, live dealer, and lottery, and it is a flat-fee structure with no tax on revenue. However, once you include setting up a company, resident local directors, compliance staff, and an anti-money laundering system, the actual first-year cost is estimated at roughly €70,000-€110,000. Review usually takes 3-5 months, and the local residency requirement for key personnel will be phased in more strictly through 2028-2029.

CGA’s scope of supervision

Rating

A Curaçao license still has lower entry barriers and costs than Malta MGA or the UK UKGC. That is why new casinos, crypto casinos, and companies targeting Asian and Latin American markets use it often. Some providers, like Booongo, also started out with a Curaçao license.

The LOK has raised trust, but some operators looking for cheaper alternatives have moved to places like Anjouan. For players, sites that also hold licenses such as MGA or UKGC tend to be safer than those with only a Curaçao license. License numbers can be checked in the CGA’s public register.