Dutch regulator fines Vave.com €3.08 million
Table of contents
- The Kansspelautoriteit fines Chestoption Sociedad de Responsibilidad Limitada €3,082,000 for unlicensed gambling via Vave.com.
- The Costa Rica based parent of Vave.com advertised in Dutch and took no steps to block Dutch players.
- Missing age checks, autoplay features and crypto payments increased the penalty, which Chestoption can still appeal.
The Dutch Gambling Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has fined Chestoption Sociedad de Responsibilidad Limitada €3,082,000 for offering unlicensed online gambling to Dutch players.
The Costa Rica based company, the parent of Vave.com, ran the illegal offer despite an earlier enforcement order to stop. The decision was published today on 17 June 2026, with an appeal still possible.
Vave targeted Dutch players
According to the KSA, Chestoption offered websites in English but advertised in Dutch, actively targeting Dutch gamblers. The operator also runs sister platforms vave-luck.com and 65avev55.com under the same ownership. Costa Rica has no dedicated gambling licensing regime, allowing companies to register there without a specific gambling licence.
No technical measures were in place to stop Dutch residents from registering accounts or depositing funds on Vave.com. Several aggravating factors increased the size of the fine. These included the absence of age verification, the presence of autoplay and turbo play features, which speed up the pace of play, and the option to pay using cryptocurrencies.
Dutch rules prohibit untargeted advertising aimed at players in the Netherlands, a restriction the KSA has been reinforcing ahead of this year’s World Cup.
Earlier penalty ignored
The fine follows a last onder dwangsom, an enforcement order with incremental penalties, that the KSA imposed on Chestoption in December 2024. The order demanded an immediate halt to the Dutch facing offer, with weekly penalties of €280,000 up to a maximum of €840,000.
Inspections carried out in 2024 found that Dutch players could still open accounts and deposit funds, including in Bitcoin. Investigators were also able to play titles such as The Dog House slot, with prizes payable in cryptocurrency and Euros.
Because Chestoption failed to comply, the KSA ordered recovery of the full €840,000 forfeited penalty. That decision became final in September 2025, after no objection was filed.
Wider Dutch crackdown
The Chestoption fine adds to a run of enforcement actions by the KSA against illegal and non-compliant operators in 2026.
In March, the regulator imposed a record €24.8 million fine on Novatech and a further €1.795 million penalty on Fortaprime for similar unlicensed activity. Earlier this month, it also fined 711 €886,000 for duty of care failures.
Online illegal-offer cases such as Chestoption’s fall under a dedicated KSA fining framework, separate from the regulator’s general policy introduced in January 2025. That framework allows for revenue based penalties when standard fine levels do not reflect the scale of an illegal offer.
A recent KSA monitoring report found that illegal supply still accounts for close to half of all online wagering in the Netherlands. The regulator has said it tackles illegal supply not only through administrative fines, but also by working with payment providers, hosting companies, banks and major technology firms.
The case shows the financial risk facing offshore brands that keep targeting the Dutch market without a licence. Chestoption can still file an objection, so the final size of the penalty is not yet settled. For licensed operators, the pace of KSA enforcement reinforces the pressure to maintain strict geo-blocking and compliance standards across the regulated Dutch market.
For investors and suppliers connected to unlicensed brands, the trend points to rising compliance costs and reputational risk wherever full geo-blocking is not in place.
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