Crypto Casino Glossary

Speaking the language of crypto casinos in one sitting

Crypto casinos blend the vocabulary of online gambling with the vocabulary of cryptocurrency, and the combination produces an acronym storm that can be impenetrable for new players. RTP, GGR, NGR, WR, KYC, AML, RG, ADR, EGM, CGA, LOK, MGA, MiCA, FATF, FIFO, LIFO, BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, TRC-20, ERC-20, BEP-20, SOL, TON, XMR — and that is before getting to the operator-specific terms. This glossary covers the vocabulary you will see across casino terms of service, bonus contracts, regulator filings, affiliate marketing copy and player community chat. Each entry is written to stand alone so the page can be searched by Ctrl-F or used as a reference rather than read linearly. The terms have been gathered from the actual language used at Stake, BC.Game, Roobet, Cloudbet, Shuffle, Mega Dice, Duel and the major game studios as of May 2026.

What this glossary covers

Two and a half decades of online gambling, fifteen years of cryptocurrency, and the regulatory waves of 2024-2026 have produced a language that crosses several professional disciplines. This glossary covers ten domains: payments and crypto, game mechanics, bonus terminology, regulatory and licensing, KYC and AML, responsible gambling, operator product features, technical fairness, esports and sportsbook adjacent vocabulary, and dispute resolution. Around 90 definitions in total. The most-used twenty are repeated near the top for skim-readability.

How to use the glossary

Each entry is one or two sentences plus a typical context. Cross-references between entries link related concepts. Where a term has multiple meanings the glossary disambiguates by domain.

Practical examples — alphabetical A through Z

ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution). An independent mediation service used to resolve player-operator disputes outside the licensor's formal complaints process. eCOGRA and AskGamblers ADR are the most common. Most Curaçao licensees commit to at least one ADR mechanism.

AML (Anti-Money Laundering). The body of regulation requiring financial businesses including casinos to monitor transactions and report suspicious activity. AML fines jumped 417% in H1 2025 versus H1 2024 across crypto exchanges and casinos.

Anjouan. Comoros offshore jurisdiction issuing casino licences via the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA). Lower cost than Curaçao (around €22-25k Year 1), 0% GGR, 2-4 week timeline.

Aviator. The original Spribe crash game launched 2018, now in 5,000+ casinos with 42M+ monthly players, 97% RTP, 25,000x max multiplier. The dominant crash game globally.

Bankroll. Total capital allocated to gambling activity. Bankroll management is the discipline of sizing bets relative to bankroll to manage variance.

BC.Game. Crypto-native casino operating on Anjouan (.com) and Curaçao (.vip) licences. 74+ in-house Originals plus extensive third-party catalogue. $BC token economy.

BEP-20. Token standard on BNB Smart Chain. USDT-BEP-20 is one of the cheaper USDT rails at around $0.20 per transaction.

BGaming. Crypto-native game studio, rebranded from SoftSwiss casino games division in 2018. First provider to deploy provably fair publicly (2014). Famous for Aviamasters, Dragon's Crash, BGaming Crash (99% RTP, 1M× max).

Cashback. Operator returns a percentage of net losses, typically after a specified period. Distinct from rakeback which returns a share of wagers regardless of win/loss.

CGA (Curaçao Gaming Authority). The Curaçao regulator. Post-LOK reform (December 2024), CGA issues direct B2C and B2B licences in the OGL/YYYY/XXXX/XXXX format.

Client seed. The player's contribution to provably fair randomness. Editable at any time before betting; combined with server seed and nonce to produce the round outcome.

Cold wallet. Crypto storage on hardware (Ledger, Trezor) or air-gapped device. Cold wallets hold long-term capital; hot wallets handle session funds.

Crash game. Game format where a multiplier starts at 1.00 and rises until it "crashes" at a random point. Players cash out before the crash. Aviator (Spribe), Spaceman (Pragmatic), JetX (SmartSoft), BGaming Crash are the major titles.

Curaçao. Dutch Caribbean licensing jurisdiction, the most popular for crypto casinos. Post-LOK 2024 reform required substantial restructuring; old master/sublicence model abolished.

EGM (Electronic Gaming Machine). Traditional fiat-casino term for a slot machine. Less commonly used in crypto contexts.

ERC-20. Token standard on Ethereum mainnet. USDT-ERC-20 and USDC-ERC-20 are the original stablecoin implementations, with higher gas fees than TRC-20 or Solana.

eCOGRA. Independent gambling testing and ADR organisation based in London. eCOGRA-tested operators display the certification badge.

FATF (Financial Action Task Force). Inter-governmental body setting global AML standards. The FATF blacklist of high-risk jurisdictions is excluded by every regulated casino licensee.

FIFO (First In First Out). Cost-basis accounting method where the earliest-acquired units are deemed sold first. Default for most major tax authorities including the IRS and HMRC.

Free spins. Bonus credits valid on specific slots, typically valued at $0.10-$1.00 per spin, with their own WR (often 30-60x) and a 24-72 hour expiry.

GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue). Total wagers minus winnings paid out, before operating costs. Operators pay GGR-based licensing fees (Curaçao 2%, Brazil 12-15%).

House edge. The casino's mathematical expected margin per dollar wagered. 100% minus RTP.

Hot wallet. Crypto wallet connected to the internet on a phone, browser extension or desktop app. Convenient for session use, exposed to phishing.

HMRC. His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the UK tax authority. Treats crypto as property under the Cryptoasset Manual.

KYC (Know Your Customer). Identity verification required under AML rules. Crypto casinos with "no-KYC" marketing typically apply KYC at withdrawal triggers around $2,000-$5,000 cumulative.

Lightning Network. Bitcoin Layer 2 enabling sub-second, sub-cent transactions. Supported at BC.Game, TG.Casino, Betpanda, Betplay.io, Bitcasino, Vave.

LOK. The Curaçao National Ordinance on Games of Chance, passed December 17, 2024. Reformed the Curaçao licensing framework, ending the master/sublicence model.

MGA (Malta Gaming Authority). Premium EU licensing jurisdiction. Few crypto casinos hold MGA due to €150-300k licence cost; the rigor signals strong consumer protection.

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation). EU regulation reshaping crypto payments. Full implementation deadline July 1, 2026.

Nonce. An integer counter incremented per bet in provably fair systems. Combined with server seed and client seed to produce the round outcome.

NGR (Net Gaming Revenue). GGR minus bonus costs, taxes and chargebacks. The base for most affiliate RevShare calculations.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition). In live dealer, OCR reads dealt cards and roulette outcomes from camera feeds to synchronise the digital state with the physical game.

OG (Originals). In-house games developed and operated by the casino. Stake Originals (Dice, Plinko, Mines, Crash, Limbo), BC Originals, Roobet Originals, Cloudbet Originals. Typically provably fair, often 99% RTP.

PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index). Nine-item screening tool. Scores 8+ indicate problem gambling.

Plinko. Game format where a ball drops through a peg-grid to a multiplier slot at the bottom. Stake Plinko (1% house edge, 27 configurations), BGaming Plinko, Spribe Plinko.

PRovably fair (PF). Cryptographic commit-and-reveal protocol allowing players to verify game outcomes were not modified after their bet. Server seed hashed before betting, revealed after.

Pragmatic Play. Largest slot studio by catalogue size. Famous: Sweet Bonanza, Gates of Olympus, Sugar Rush, Big Bass Bonanza, Spaceman. Drops & Wins network promotion €25M/year.

PWA (Progressive Web App). Browser-based application installable to home screen without app-store distribution. The dominant mobile delivery method for crypto casinos.

Rakeback. Operator returns a percentage of total wagers regardless of session outcome. Stake offers 3.5% base from Bronze; Duel.com offers 50% slot rakeback and 80% on Duel Blackjack.

Reality check. Pop-up reminder during play showing time elapsed and net session result. Required by UKGC for licensed UK ops; optional at most crypto casinos.

Reload bonus. Subsequent deposit bonus after the welcome offer, typically weekly, monthly, or tied to VIP tier. Mega Dice Monday Cashback, Stake Platinum 7/14/28/42-day reloads.

RG (Responsible Gambling). Operator tools and policies to prevent problem gambling. Deposit limits, loss limits, session timers, self-exclusion. Required block in every casino footer.

RTP (Return To Player). Long-run percentage of stakes returned to players. 96% RTP means $96 returned per $100 wagered, averaged across millions of spins.

Server seed. The casino's contribution to provably fair randomness. Hashed and committed before betting, revealed on session rotation.

Self-exclusion. Binding block on the player's account for a fixed period (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, 6 months, permanent). Cannot be lifted before expiry.

SHA-256. The cryptographic hash function used in Bitcoin and in most provably fair commit-and-reveal schemes.

Solana (SOL). High-throughput Layer 1 with sub-1-second transactions and sub-$0.001 fees. Rising fast in crypto casino acceptance, around 59% as of May 2026.

SoF (Source of Funds). Documentation showing where the player's crypto originated. Requested at higher KYC tiers, typically above $10,000 cumulative deposits or $5,000 single withdrawal.

Stablecoin. Cryptocurrency pegged to a fiat reference, usually USD. USDT (Tether), USDC (Circle), BUSD. Stablecoins forecast to dominate casino bet volume at 70%+ by end-2026.

Sweepstakes. US-legal gambling format using virtual currency (Gold Coins, Sweeps Coins) instead of cash. Stake.us, Pulsz, McLuck. Banned in California January 2026, Connecticut, Montana, New York and increasingly more states.

TON (The Open Network). Blockchain originally developed by Telegram. Tonkeeper is the standard wallet. Used by Telegram-native casinos for sub-10-second deposits.

TRC-20. Token standard on TRON. USDT-TRC-20 is the dominant USDT rail at casino payouts due to $0.10 fees and 3-second settlement.

VIP. Tiered loyalty programme. Stake VIP has 15 levels across 6 tiers. BC.Game has 140+ levels. Roobet's Roowards 2.0 offers instant rakeback every 30 minutes.

Volatility. Slot characteristic describing the variance of outcomes. Low volatility produces frequent small wins; high volatility produces rare large wins. Equivalent to standard deviation around the mean RTP.

Wagering Requirement (WR). The multiplier the bonus or deposit-plus-bonus must be wagered before withdrawal. 35x bonus-only on $100 bonus = $3,500 wagering required. 25x deposit-plus-bonus on $100+$100 = $5,000 wagering required.

Wallet-connect. Authentication via wallet signature (MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Phantom, Tonkeeper) instead of email and password. Used by Duel.com and parts of Stake's web3 stack.

Welcome bonus. First-deposit match. CoinCasino 200% up to $30,000; BC.Game tiered up to $20,000 across four deposits; Wild Casino 300% up to $3,000 on the first deposit.

XMR (Monero). Privacy-focused cryptocurrency with built-in transaction confidentiality. Accepted at around 10-20% of crypto casinos (declining); supported by BC.Game, Cloudbet, MyStake, Mega Dice.

Common mistakes and red flags

• Confusing GGR with NGR. GGR is wagers minus winnings; NGR subtracts bonus costs, tax and chargebacks. Affiliate RevShare contracts almost always pay against NGR, not GGR.
• Equating Anjouan with Curaçao. Both are offshore but Curaçao under the LOK reform has materially stronger compliance and consumer-protection requirements.
• Treating rakeback as cashback. Rakeback returns a share of total wagers; cashback returns a share of net losses. Rakeback is consistently better value for active players.
• Forgetting that RTP is long-run. A 99% RTP game still has variance. RTP describes average over millions of spins, not the expected result of your session.
• Assuming PWA equals app-store-app. A PWA is a browser-installed web app; an app-store app is a binary. Both behave like apps, but the trust and update paths differ.

FAQ

Why so many acronyms? The gambling industry and the crypto industry both run on jargon. Crypto casinos sit at the intersection. Casino, payments, regulation and crypto each contribute its own vocabulary.

How do I check a term I don't see here? The casino's help centre and terms of service typically define operator-specific terminology. Wikipedia and the Cambridge Online Dictionary cover generic gambling and crypto terms. Reddit r/cryptocurrency and r/onlinegambling for community-sourced explanations.

Are there standard definitions across operators? Generally yes for the technical terms (RTP, house edge, provably fair) and the regulatory terms (KYC, AML, GGR). Bonus terms vary substantially — WR base, max bet, eligible games change per operator.

What is the difference between casino jargon and crypto jargon? Casino jargon covers game mechanics, bonus structures, regulator filings, and operator product. Crypto jargon covers blockchain mechanics, wallets, tokens, networks. Crypto casinos blend both — a "no-KYC USDT-TRC20 provably fair Originals" sentence makes sense only if you know both vocabularies.

What is the most misunderstood term? Wagering Requirement — specifically the deposit-plus-bonus base versus bonus-only base distinction. The single largest source of player disputes at every operator.

Updated 22 May 2026.