The Slow Death of the 40x Bonus Wagering Requirement

At online casinos, bonuses all too often come with 40x wagering requirements. These are deposit matches that require the player to wager their initial bonus amount up to 40 times before they can access the funds or make a withdrawal. But things are changing: the 40x wagering requirement is disappearing, and fast.

In Finland, the end of the 40x wagering requirement has an exact date: July 1, 2027.

Finland’s New Gambling Act was signed into law in January. As of March 1, foreign operators can finally apply for gambling licenses, which will officially end the long-standing state monopoly of Veikkaus when the new market goes live on July 1, 2027.

Under these new regulations, welcome bonuses will be strictly prohibited, and any retention bonus wagering requirements will be legally capped at 5x.

The UK Gambling Commission has similarly introduced a new rule, which took effect in January 2026, capping bonus wagering requirements at 10x. Explaining their reasoning behind the strict new limit, they wrote:

While licensed gambling sites in the UK and Finland are being forced by regulators to comply with these new limits, many cryptocurrency casinos are already well ahead of the curve.

Ten years ago, almost every cryptocurrency casino offered a welcome package saddled with a 40x to 45x wagering requirement. But as time has gone on, and with the emergence of new platforms, these have been replaced by entirely different reward structures.

Stake, the most popular crypto gambling site in the world, pioneered this move away from predatory deposit bonuses.

Instead, players earn rewards through the site’s VIP program. The popularity of this model became clear very early on when the question “wen monthly?” (referring to the VIP monthly bonus drop) became a massive meme within the cryptocurrency community. While Stake occasionally offers exclusive welcome bonuses, new players are generally not greeted by high-wagering deposit matches.

Other cryptocurrency casinos have followed suit. Sites that have launched in the last three years have generally adopted Stake’s example, focusing heavily on loyalty programs rather than deposit bonuses.

Shuffle.com is an excellent example. The founder, Noah Dummett, openly acknowledges Stake as an inspiration, and you can see that in Shuffle’s approach to player rewards. Players are rewarded with instant rakeback, weekly bonuses, and monthly drops based purely on their wager volume. Every time a player levels up their VIP status, they receive a flat, wager-free bonus that they can withdraw immediately.

Furthermore, Shuffle incorporates native blockchain features, including their own token, SHFL, built on the Ethereum network. Shuffle uses the coin to reward players with airdrops and a weekly SHFL lottery, and players can even stake the token directly on the platform.

The list goes on: Roobet, Rollbit, and Gamdom are all prime examples of modern cryptocurrency gambling sites that forgo the 40x wagering requirement in favor of achievable, loyalty-tied rewards.

This shift has even sparked an interesting new trend: VIP transfer services. Casinos now offer to match a player’s VIP tier from a competing site. This solves a major dilemma for high-rollers who want to play somewhere new but don’t want to lose the progress, weekly boosts, and monthly rewards they have built up elsewhere.

Ultimately, it is a great time to be a player at a cryptocurrency casino. The rewards are no longer designed to tie your money down; instead, they are designed to genuinely reward loyalty and gameplay.

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