Inside the world's largest crypto casino Stake, which claims ~4% of all BTC transactions, with popularity boosted by celebs like Drake and influencers on Kick
Drake just needed some juice. In 82 minutes of online slots play, the Canadian rapper's starting balance of $3.5 million worth of Bitcoin had dwindled to $422,355.
The reported Bitcoin transaction share makes Stake relevant not only as a gambling brand but as a meaningful source of activity on the Bitcoin network. Its association with Drake and Kick shows how entertainment-led promotion can make high-volatility gambling sessions highly visible.
First-order effects
Stake gains fresh visibility from a report that pairs its claimed Bitcoin-network footprint with a prominent Drake gambling session.
Drake’s rapid balance decline makes the financial stakes of crypto-denominated slots concrete for his audience, while directing attention to Stake and Kick-linked promotion.
Second-order effects
Influencer and livestream partners face closer scrutiny over how gambling content is presented, especially where celebrity reach can blur entertainment and wagering.
Stake’s claimed transaction scale may intensify debate over whether Bitcoin activity is being driven by payments or investment use versus high-frequency gambling flows.
Third-order effects
If celebrity-led distribution remains central to crypto casinos, gambling platforms and creator ecosystems could become more tightly coupled, concentrating customer acquisition in a small number of media channels.
The pattern reinforces the crypto legitimacy gap: large, visible consumer use cases can expand adoption while also heightening concerns about consumer harm and the sector’s public credibility.
The trend: Crypto gambling is becoming a major consumer-facing use of digital assets, with celebrity and creator marketing accelerating its reach and its regulatory reputational risks.
Crypto casino Stake pays Drake and other stars to bet, spreading clips of big wins to impressionable gamblers. The numbers show unusual luck is at work. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Fantastic work by @oliviasolon @cecianasta @LeonYin showing Stake paying Drake, Adin Ross, & other influencers absurd $ to play online casino games, while apparently rigging it so they have an improbable rate of “big wins” that lure people watching their streams. Sickening.
Stake says influencers like Drake and Adin Ross don't win more than the average gambler. We ran the numbers, and guess what :) Here's our year-long data investigation into Stake and Kick, with @oliviasolon and @LeonYin: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
https://stake.com/ is a crypto gaming site that boasts some pretty high-profile influencers winning big bucks. But are these influencers really that lucky? Bloomberg ran the numbers to find out https://www.bloomberg.com/... [video]
Clips of Stake influencers' astronomical jackpots — like the $37m and $45m they won live on Kick last year — get scattered across social media by clippers, who receive $800 per million views Stake says it is a separate business from Kick https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Our year-long investigation into Stake's advertising empire uncovered influencers' higher win rates and the house money they gamble with. Those wins get clipped and scattered across the internet, showcasing an impossible fantasy It's also today's @business Big Take [image]
NEW: For years, critics have accused crypto casino Stake of giving influencers better luck playing slots. Bloomberg ran the numbers and found some abnormal good fortune for some of its most high profile ambassadors. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Great story from Bloomberg. I also cannot imagine a better formula for the mass-creation of incels than saddling teenagers with crypto gambling debts. — www.bloomberg.com/features/202...