One of Australia’s rapidly growing share trading platforms, HelloStake.com, has launched a federal lawsuit against the major crypto gambling site Stake.com, alleging that the latter’s use of the name ‘Stake’ infringes on its already established brand in Australia.
HelloStake.com, known for enabling locals to invest seamlessly in US stocks, argues that Stake.com’s crypto casino’s presence under the same name could mislead Australian customers. Features of Stake’s crypto casino are already accessible to locals as the company seeks to obtain a casino license.
The Roots of the Dispute
According to the lawsuit filed last week, HelloStake.com claims that Stake.com has made false and misleading statements on its website, leading customers to believe that the brands are related. “HelloStake.com claims that Stake.com has misled customers to believe the brands are related,” states the court documents.
Stake.com, based in Curaçao but operated from Australia, has achieved widespread success through partnerships with big names like Canadian singer Drake and crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, known as BitBoy.
Founded by Melbourne-based billionaire Ed Craven and American business partner Bijan Tehrani, the company narrowly avoided a $400 million lawsuit in the US, but may face legal challenges in Australia.
The online betting industry is on the rise, with its global market size valued at nearly $64 billion in 2022 and expected to grow almost 12% annually until 2030. Enhanced by higher mobile phone usage, 5G technology, and blockchain, online casinos are expanding.
Crypto gambling sites like Stake.com, with their higher transparency and quicker transactions, find the Australian market attractive. From 2018 to 2021, the percentage of Australians who gambled increased from 7% to 11%.
However, the risks are also mounting. Twitch, a popular streaming platform, banned Stake and three other platforms last year, responding to a gambling-related scandal. Just two weeks ago, it expanded its ban list and announced policy updates to protect users, after witnessing new trends despite a 75% drop in gambling viewership.
Implications
The Stake.com and HelloStake.com lawsuit, along with the evolving trends in online betting, leads to significant implications for the wider iGaming industry:
- Brand Conflicts: This legal dispute highlights the need for clear differentiation between brands, especially in industries as interwoven as trading and gambling.
- Emerging Markets and Regulations: The growth in the Australian market underscores the global potential of the online betting industry but also emphasizes the importance of local laws and regulations.
- Risk Management: The Twitch ban emphasizes the critical role of platforms in managing and controlling content, raising questions about responsibility and ethics in the industry.
This legal clash between HelloStake.com and Stake.com epitomizes the challenges and opportunities that the ever-evolving online betting industry faces, serving as a precedent for future brand disputes and growth strategies.
