【2002 Archives】

As Elon Musk’s X continues its transformation into a right-wing fever dream002 Archives the platform’s dwindling population of irony-poisoned meme enjoyers has found a new reason to be annoyed: an onslaught of Stake gambling ads.

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No matter where you lurk on X, it’s impossible to escape the flood of viral posts stamped with the Stake logo in the bottom right corner. Some of the biggest meme accounts, shamelessly recycling stolen content or churning out their own, have turned into walking billboards for the crypto-backed casino.

What is Stake?

Stake is an online sports betting and casino platform that lets users gamble with cryptocurrency. Founded in Australia in 2017 by Edward Craven and Bijan Tehrani, the company now operates out of Curaçao, a jurisdiction known for its lenient gaming regulations. But if you’ve heard of Stake, it’s probably not because of its product — it’s because of its relentless marketing machine.

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The company has embedded itself deep in internet culture, striking lucrative deals with former Twitch stars like xQC and Adin Ross who now stream exclusively on Kick, the Stake-owned streaming platform. Beyond the gaming world, Stake is an official partner with the UFC, the main sponsor of Sauber Motorsport’s Formula One cars, and even has a deal with Drake, who's responsible for this recent Stake ad.

SEE ALSO: X will soon integrate sports gambling stats from BetMGM

In 2022, the company took its ambitions to the Premier League, slapping its name on Everton’s jerseys. That partnership didn’t last — by February 2025, according to The Athletic, Stake had pulled out of the UK entirely after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation into its advertising tactics.

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The investigation was sparked by a Stake ad appearing on a video featuring English pornstar Bonnie Blue. A complaint filed with the Advertising Standards Authority argued that the placement violated UK regulations prohibiting gambling ads from being associated with "seduction" or designed to appeal to young audiences.

Why is its logo on all these memes?

First reported in late 2024 by 404 Media and Slate, Stake had struck deals with various content aggregators on X — paying them to slap its logo on all their posts. Thus, it's created a low-effort, high-visibility advertising campaign for the crypto casino as X's algorithm prioritizes content posted by subscribed users.

Making matters worse, Stake managed to squeeze even more free advertising out of X’s Community Notes system. Users attempting to call out the brand inadvertently boosted its visibility, as Notes explaining what Stake is — sometimes even linking directly to its website — spread across the platform.

The entire scheme appears to be a workaround for X’s own content policies, which explicitly ban undisclosed gambling ads and prohibit promotions for offshore casinos.

SEE ALSO: Leftist meme creators are undeterred by Meta’s rightward shift

According to Slate, X user @FearedBuck was “ground zero” for Stake’s latest ad blitz. Once a Milwaukee Bucks fan page, the account pivoted to reposting clips from Kick, before abruptly stopping when it started drawing scrutiny for potential FTC violations. Now, meme accounts still slapping the Stake watermark on their posts have added a thin layer of plausible deniability, tacking on disclaimers like "Gamble Responsibly" or #AD.

In December, Musk took a brief stand, warning and suspending several accounts accused of manipulating the platform to push Stake ads. But the crackdown was more of a speed bump than a deterrent, as new accounts continue to surface, keeping the cycle alive.

And now, it’s getting even worse. Meme pages that first flooded X with Stake-branded content are taking their hustle cross-platform, reposting the same viral images — watermark and all — onto Instagram Reels and Facebook, spreading the crypto casino’s reach far beyond Musk’s already compromised platform.

Topics X/Twitter