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What country is best to get the gambling license?

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For many years, Curaçao dominated the global online gambling market as one of the most efficient and widely used licensing jurisdictions. Historically, the system was based on four master license holders who were authorized to issue sublicenses. Our team has worked closely with the leading master license holders for many years, successfully licensing and supporting a large number of gambling operators worldwide.

converted into government-issued licenses, but new applications are now subject to a significantly more complex, time-consuming, and expensive regulatory process. Despite this, we continue to actively work with the new system and successfully obtain Curaçao licenses for our clients. Evaluating the jurisdictions in which the gambling services can be provided under the Curacao online gaming license, it is important not to overlook the aspect of payment service providers. Some of them might request the operator to provide legal opinions from particular jurisdictions, even if the regulator does not have such requirement.

Even after these changes, Curaçao remains one of the most effective gambling licenses globally. It is now a fully government-issued license, which strengthens its regulatory credibility and long-term sustainability.

At the same time, alternative jurisdictions such as Anjouan, Kahnawake, or Tobique operate under a different regulatory logic. These licenses are not issued directly by central governments, but rather by autonomous or semi-autonomous regions. For example, Anjouan is an autonomous island within the Union of the Comoros. Because of this structure, such licenses are sometimes referred to as “pseudo-licenses.”

That said, Anjouan has rapidly built a solid reputation. Over the past few years, it has issued a very large number of licenses and gained increasing acceptance among software providers, game studios, payment gateways, and electronic money institutions. Due to its simpler, faster, and more cost-efficient processes, Anjouan is increasingly seen as a strong alternative and may even become one of the dominant global gambling licenses in the near future.

On the other end of the spectrum are highly regulated jurisdictions such as Malta, Isle of Man, and Gibraltar. These licenses are suitable for operators who can invest substantially more capital and time into licensing. They offer top-tier regulatory credibility but come with strict player-acceptance rules. Operators licensed in these jurisdictions are often restricted from targeting players in countries where online gambling is prohibited, as regulators closely monitor the origin of players.

In practice, this means that if your business model focuses on specific markets which generally do not prohibit online gambling, such as Latin America, and you require a premium regulatory profile, jurisdictions like Malta, Isle of Man, or Gibraltar may be appropriate.

However, if your goal is to target players globally, highly regulated jurisdictions such as Isle of Man would generally not be suitable. These regulators strictly limit player acceptance and typically require a clear legal opinion confirming that online gambling is lawful in each target country. Without such country-specific legal memos, operators are not permitted to accept players from those jurisdictions. As a result, licenses from more flexible jurisdictions are usually required for broad international market coverage.