STAKE.MX

History and Brand Background

Stake.mx is the Mexican-market extension of Stake, a global online casino and sportsbook that started in 2017 when Australian entrepreneurs Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani launched Stake.com as a cryptocurrency-focused gambling site. The brand built its early reputation on instant crypto payments and a house-developed suite of provably fair games, allowing players to cryptographically verify the fairness of each outcome. By the early 2020s, Stake was widely described in industry media as one of the largest online gambling operators in the world, with the operating entity Medium Rare N.V. incorporated in Curaçao and reported operational hubs in Melbourne, Australia, and Belgrade, Serbia.

The stake.mx domain was introduced as part of Stake's Latin American growth strategy, offering a Spanish-language interface, dedicated customer support, and integration with Mexican payment systems. This localization allowed the global brand to compete directly with established domestic operators while preserving the crypto-first functionality that had differentiated Stake from traditional bookmakers and casinos.

Business Model and Products

Stake.mx operates a combined online casino and sportsbook business model, generating revenue from player wagering across slots, table games, live dealer games, and sports betting markets. The casino catalogue is supplied by leading game studios including Pragmatic Play, Play'n GO, Hacksaw Gaming, and Evolution Gaming, while the live casino experience is powered primarily by Evolution's professional dealer studios. The sportsbook covers football, with strong emphasis on Liga MX and major European leagues, as well as boxing, MMA, tennis, basketball, baseball, and esports, all available for pre-match and in-play betting.

A defining part of the product offering is Stake Originals, the brand's in-house collection of provably fair games such as Crash, Dice, Mines, Plinko, Limbo, Hi-Lo, Keno, and Wheel. These games were among the earliest widely adopted provably fair formats in crypto gambling and remain central to Stake's identity, functioning as a distinctive brand asset and player retention tool.

Market Position and Competition

In Mexico, Stake.mx sits among a competitive field that includes domestic heavyweights such as Caliente and Codere, as well as international rivals like Bet365 and Betano. Its main differentiators are the crypto-native payment infrastructure, a large and continuously updated game catalogue, and the global brand recognition built through aggressive sports marketing. The platform's ability to accept both traditional Mexican payment methods and cryptocurrencies gives it unusual flexibility in a market where many local operators support only fiat payments.

The exact Mexican corporate vehicle holding Stake.mx's local authorization has not been publicly detailed, and the precise launch date of the Mexican platform is also not officially confirmed. Publicly available information places the Mexican operation within the DGJS regulatory framework, but ownership and licensing specifics have been kept largely opaque.

Global Marketing and Partnerships

Stake's global profile has been shaped by a series of landmark sponsorships. The brand served as title sponsor of the Sauber Formula One team, which raced as Stake F1 Team during the 2024 and 2025 Formula One seasons, and became the UFC's official betting partner under a multi-year deal announced in 2022. In football, Stake signed as Everton FC's principal shirt sponsor ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season, generating significant media attention. Canadian rapper Drake has also acted as a brand ambassador, featuring Stake prominently in his popular live-streamed gambling sessions. These partnerships, supported by a vast affiliate network, have given Stake global visibility far beyond most online gambling operators.

Regulatory Scrutiny and Leadership

Stake's rise has been accompanied by regulatory and reputational challenges. In Australia, co-founder and CEO Ed Craven was widely reported in 2023 to have been banned from Crown Resorts' Melbourne and Perth casinos as part of regulatory conditions attached to those venues' licenses. The company has also faced ongoing public debate around its marketing practices, the use of celebrity endorsements, and responsible-gaming concerns related to cryptocurrency gambling.

Craven remains the most publicly visible leader of the company, serving as co-founder and chief executive officer. Bijan Tehrani, the other co-founder, maintains a much lower public profile, and no other C-suite officers have been reliably identified in public records. As of the mid-2020s, Stake.mx continues to operate as one of Mexico's most prominent internationally branded online gambling platforms, leveraging the parent brand's technology, marketing power, and global reputation.