The youngest Australian billionaire Edward Craven and his business partner Bijan Tehrani are rumoured to be planning the launch of a legal gambling operator to compete with the largest local sportsbook operators – Tabcorp and Sportsbet. The duo have quietly managed to register the first Australian companies and trademarks for their global gambling brand Stake which is currently banned in the country.
According to experts, the move could pave the way for them to possibly launch their own legal sportsbook.
As mentioned above, Mr Craven and Mr Tehrani head the popular cryptocurrency gambling casino platform Stake.com which is accommodated in Curacao. Reportedly, the website generates an average of AU$585 million via its online casino and international sports betting business on a daily basis.
Although cryptocurrency gambling via online casinos is currently suspended in Australia, the two businessmen have managed to successfully register Stake Gaming Pty Ltd with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). This is the first time when Craven and his business partner have made a move to use their world-known Stake brand in the country. In addition, the duo has recently filed an application with IP Australia to trademark the Stake Gaming brand by a Cyprus-based company that has been publicly connected to Mr Craven.
The company is jointly owned by Mr Tehrani and a company owned by Edward Craven.
Australians Currently Not Allowed to Access Games Offered by Stake.com
Rumours that the duo have been planning to seek the establishment of an online betting presence in Australia to compete with Tabcorp and Sportsbet have been additionally fueled by Mr Tehrani who has hinted about his and his business partner’s intentions to enter the legal gambling market of Australia through the presence of a regulated online corporate bookmaker that would rival some of the largest companies that are currently present in the country.
At the time when he gave an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine late in 2022, he shared that the duo was applying for an Australian sports betting licence and was hopeful to get one in a year. At the time he noted that the local sports betting market was quite competitive, and operating on low margins was extremely challenging but he and his partner were confident they would be able to make an impact.
For the time being, Stake has not made any comments on the recent company and trademark registration moves.
It is not illegal for the company to be operated outside the country’s borders, local customers are not allowed to legally access any of the games offered by Stake.com. The cryptocurrency casino gambling website has exponentially grown since Mr Craven and Mr Tehrani rolled out the business in 2017. According to them, the platform currently accounts for about 7% of the total number of Bitcoin transactions on a global scale every day.
The duo’s business seemed to have suffered a blow at the time when live gambling streams were suspended by American video live-streaming service Twitch late in 2022. Craven and Tehrani, however, acted quickly and launched their own global streaming service – Kick – which has managed to grow to a 1-million customer base since its official launch and currently offers content creators a 95/5% revenue split.
- Author
Olivia Cole
