It's fun guys, govs hardly avoid accepting Bitcoin is money, but when it comes to gambling then users are risking money, so, casinos need a license.
Let's be honest, If you can deposit, wager, and withdraw. I don't see where the license is in the process...
Just want to say Fuck Curaçao, the island in the middle of nowhere who decide to take the crypto gambling industry in their hands and make billions of dollars with it. Who the fuck they are to wash money this way?
Crypto gambling needs freedom, and i insist in this point. If you can Deposit, Wager and Widrawal, then you don't need anything else. And a big shout out to those casinos who still working until now without a license, freebitco.in, Just-Dice.com, bustabit.com... They are big examples of how crypto gambling should be.
They don't need a license really, but it adds an air of legitimacy and chances are most of the owners of these casinos will be inside a jurisdiction that has regulation around gambling. If the owners are found to be operating a casino from a place like Europe or America without the proper legal structures in place, then they could potentially face criminal charges that end with them in jail. These licenses slightly shift the jurisdiction or at least are part of a few hops that can hide the owner. It's great business for these little island nations as well, because they are independent countries that can build an income source and could genuinely set up a valid license system that oversee quality casinos.
In every corner of the Earth, depending on the region, there is a "place" to open any casino. Crypto or fiat one. Curacao and Malta are the most common countries for this purpose since their regulations are easier or/ and have lower taxation which is very tempting. In any case though is as you said. Licenses make casinos life easier.
As for govs, it's true that most of them avoid naming crypto as "money" but we all know that they tax crypto and they consider it as "assets". And gambling with valuable assets, sooner or later, will make a license mandatory for any crypto casino. Whether we like it or not...