I noticed a wild story about how the crypto casino Stake operates. It all started with a broadcast of a Canadian rapper who lost from $3.5 million to $420,000 in slot machines over an hour and a half. But then his balance was restored to $2.2 million. Now that’s some luck, huh?

It turned out that behind the scenes sat Stake co-founder Ed Craven, who literally directed the game through chat. He encouraged, advised, and told which games to switch to. And the most interesting part — the rapper won in Stake’s mother company’s slots four times more often than regular players. And when he played third-party developer games, his odds were average. Coincidence? Hardly.

Bloomberg took a serious look into the matter. They analyzed 1,500 hours of streams from 25 streamers on the Kick platform, which is supposedly independent from Stake. But in reality, both companies belong to the same parent company, Easygo, are located in the same Melbourne office, and share a team. Kick is just positioned as a streaming platform to avoid gambling regulation.

Craven himself repeatedly denied manipulation, but the facts say otherwise. Popular streamers like Trainwreckstv received $3.6 billion over 16 months into their accounts, then placed bets totaling $180 billion. Adin Ross, during his collaboration, received at least 26,000 ETH, which at the time’s rates amounts to $78 million. This doesn’t look like fair play.

An interesting detail: Stake doesn’t only operate with traditional cryptocurrencies. They have a model in the US where virtual coins and so-called Stake Cash are used, which can be exchanged for crypto. So, is Stake crypto-only? No, it’s a hybrid system that helps them bypass US legislation. The license is registered in Curaçao — a small island where regulation is almost nonexistent.

The saddest part is the players’ stories. A Swedish guy started playing at 15, having accumulated crypto from trading items in Counter-Strike. Over seven years, he lost about $1.5 million on Stake. He requested self-exclusion dozens of times, but Craven personally helped him bypass bans by transferring bonuses to new accounts. If he hadn’t lost, his crypto would now be worth $15-20 million.

The company employs thousands of editors who spread videos of huge wins by streamers. They pay $500–800 for a million views. It’s a machine for attracting new addicted players, especially youth. Twitch later banned streams of crypto gambling, but Craven simply created Kick as an alternative.

Regulators have already started acting. In the US, at least 10 class-action lawsuits have been filed against Stake, Drake, and Ross. The UK, France, and Ukraine ordered access to be blocked. Even Curaçao began fining operators, but the fines are tiny — $12,500 per company, which makes millions in just a minute and a half.

Meanwhile, Craven lives in a mansion in Melbourne bought for $56.8 million, and drives a Land Rover. His top streamers stay with him, except those included in lawsuits. This whole story shows how the crypto industry operates without regulation — huge money, manipulation, victims among youth, and practically no consequences.