Line up BitStarz and Underdog by year and the comparison stops looking like a head-to-head fast. 2014: BitStarz opens as a crypto casino and names the United States a restricted jurisdiction from day one. 2020: Underdog launches in Brooklyn as a pick'em DFS app, US-only. Then the gap between them widens rather than closes — March 2025 Underdog pays New York $17.5 million and exits the state, December 2025 it shuts its own sportsbook down nationwide, July 2026 it launches a federally licensed prediction exchange called Underdog Predict. BitStarz, across all of it, keeps doing exactly the one thing it has always done: run a crypto casino no American can join.
The Timeline, Side by Side
BitStarz vs Underdog, year by year
| Year | BitStarz | Underdog |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Launches as a crypto casino; US and Puerto Rico restricted from the start | — |
| 2020 | — | Founded in Brooklyn by Jeremy Levine, Brandon Stakenborg, Trevor John |
| Mar. 2025 | Current license (OGL/2024/165/0185) held by Gareton B.V. | Pays NY $17.5M settlement, exits New York; Pick'em Champions licensing begins (NJ, DE) |
| Dec. 2025 | — | Shuts down its real-money sportsbook nationwide |
| Jul. 2026 | — | Launches Underdog Predict, a CFTC-licensed prediction exchange |
| Today | Casino-only, 7,000+ games, 60+ studios, no US access | DFS (two products) + Predict, blocked in 9 states, no international footprint |
Is BitStarz or Underdog Legal Where You Are?
BitStarz answers this before the question gets asked: the United States and Puerto Rico are named restricted jurisdictions in its terms, enforced at registration, with no state-by-state exception the way Underdog has. Underdog is the one that actually needs a state-by -state check, and the map has three layers now instead of one — Classic Pick'em under the DFS exemption in roughly 15 states, Pick'em Champions licensed separately starting in New Jersey and Delaware, and Underdog Predict running on federal CFTC registrations with its own emerging footprint. Nine states block Underdog outright: Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, and Washington.
The sportsbook comparison that used to exist doesn't anymore. Older roundups might frame this pairing as “casino vs. sportsbook,” but Underdog closed its sportsbook nationwide in December 2025. BitStarz never had one. Whatever comparison a reader is picturing, it isn't a sportsbook one.
Is BitStarz or Underdog Legit?
BitStarz's case is duration and licensing: twelve years straight, a current Curaçao Gaming Control Board license, and an “Excellent” Trustpilot rating built on roughly 5,000 reviews. Underdog's case has a real bump in the middle of it — the $17.5 million New York settlement — followed by six years of continuous operation and a brand-new federal registration stack for Predict. A company that pays a regulator and keeps expanding reads differently than one that never had the option to seek a US license in the first place, but neither history disqualifies either brand.
How Safe Is Each for the Player Who Can Actually Use It?
For a US reader, BitStarz's safety question never gets to start — there is no account to protect, and a VPN workaround risks a balance rather than protecting one, since BitStarz can flag activity it believes originated in a restricted jurisdiction. Underdog gives that same reader something real to weigh: a US-based company, a public regulatory record (the fine, the settlement, the new licenses), and payout methods — PayPal, Venmo, Trustly — that are traceable if something goes wrong. Outside the US, that flips: BitStarz is the credibly licensed option and Underdog isn't available to weigh at all.
Which One For Who
A US reader looking for pick'em DFS or a federally licensed prediction product is asking about Underdog, checked against their specific state and specific product — Classic Pick'em, Pick'em Champions, or Predict aren't interchangeable approvals. A reader outside the US and Puerto Rico who wants a large, long-running crypto casino library is asking about BitStarz, and Underdog was never built to answer that. Neither turns a deposit or an entry fee into income; treat both as entertainment spend with a budget, and call 1-800-GAMBLER if it stops feeling that way.