Crypto casino has MGA licence suspended
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has suspended the licence of a top crypto casino.
Goldwin, which accepts a range of cryptocurrency options at its cashier, will no longer be authorised to operate any gaming services as a result of the licence suspended.
The crypto casino, which was the holder of MGA licence MGA/B2C/533/2018, has been punished for breaches of Malta’s Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations.
In a statement, the MGA noted that Goldwin broke rules such as a regulation detailing the failure to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.
The crypto casino has the right to lodge an appeal against the MGA licence suspension.
Goldwin has been told to refund all player funds and the crypto casino site must also retain access to player accounts as a result of the breaches.
“The Authorised Person is thus no longer authorised to carry out any gaming operations but is required to retain and provide access to all registered players to their player accounts and to refund all funds standing to the credit of players in line with the applicable law,” said the MGA.
According to the statement released by the MGA, Goldwin’s actions “represent an imminent threat of serious prejudice to the interest of players”, hence the licence being suspended.
Furthermore, the MGA said that Goldwin “failed to meet commitments to players in a timely manner, or the Authority has reason to believe that such failure is imminent”.
This is not the first time that the crypto casino site has been in trouble with gaming authorities.
Back in 2023, the Goldwin casino site was fined a total of €6.7m for offering gambling illegally in the Netherlands by the country’s regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). Goldwin was charged with a violation of article 1, paragraph 1 of the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act (WOK) as Dutch-based players were able to gamble on Westcasino.com, which is a site that was operated by Goldwin.
Westcasino.com was found by the KSA investigation to have received a total of 843,132 visits from the Netherlands in 2022. The KSA issued a warning to Goldwin over illegally accepting players from the country but no changes were made and the fine was therefore issued.
René Jansen, the KSA chair, said: “With an order subject to incremental penalty payments, we can often quickly put a stop to illegal supply. That does not mean that previously committed illegal activities disappear from view: they can still be punished.”
