Coinbase Infrastructure Enabled Underage Gambling on Stake.us
TD
Taylor Davenport
Coinbase · Apr 16, 2026
Source: DojiDoji Data Terminal
A minor user suffered years of financial losses and addiction-related injury before reaching the legal gambling age. This outcome resulted from the recruitment of minors to gamble on Stake.us, a U.S.-facing sweepstakes platform. The platform operates as a gateway for Stake.com, an offshore gambling operation that uses the sweepstakes model to bypass U.S. regulatory restrictions.
Coinbase provided the financial rails for this activity. The lawsuit filed in New York alleges that Coinbase knowingly supplied the routing and payment infrastructure that made repeated wagering possible. By facilitating the conversion and transfer of funds, Coinbase provided the compliance evasion mechanism necessary to bypass New York State anti-gambling restrictions and traditional banking safeguards.
Judge Dakota Ramseur issued an Order to Show Cause on April 14, setting a hearing for May 19 in the New York Supreme Court. The case is part of a broader legal challenge against Stake.us, which faces similar allegations of operating as an illegal online casino in Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, California, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, and Ohio. The Los Angeles City Attorney also initiated an enforcement action in 2025 seeking to recover losses from residents, and Baltimore recently filed a civil lawsuit against Stake and five other sweepstakes operators.