For organisers · not legal advice

Are online raffles legal? What organisers need to know

The tests regulators actually apply, in plain language — and a clear line between what this platform enforces and what remains yours to check.

The test

Prize + chance + consideration

Most regulators classify prize schemes by three ingredients: a prize worth winning, chance deciding who wins it, and consideration — something of value paid to enter. All three together is the shape of a lottery, and lotteries are restricted, licensed, or state-run almost everywhere. Remove any one ingredient and the classification usually changes: skill contests remove chance, free-entry promotions remove consideration.

A paid-ticket raffle has all three ingredients by design. That is why raffles are so often the licensed or charity-reserved case — and why the details are local law, not platform policy.

The distinctions that decide cases

  1. Sweepstakes: the free-entry route. Many jurisdictions treat a scheme as a sweepstakes rather than a lottery when there is a genuine, equally-weighted way to enter without paying. This platform enforces the equal weight — a free entry is one ticket in the same sealed list as a paid one — but whether your route satisfies your regulator is a legal question, not a technical one.
  2. Where the entrant sits, not just where you do. Online sale reaches every jurisdiction an entrant can open a browser in. Several restrict online raffle ticket sales specifically; organisers commonly exclude jurisdictions in their terms — this site publishes its own excluded list for the same reason.
  3. Crypto wrinkles. Tokens as prizes, tickets priced in a volatile asset, and cross-border settlement can each pull in additional rules — securities, money transmission, tax — that a cash raffle never meets. None of them are answered by the draw being fair.

— the chain proves the draw. It does not classify the scheme.

The division of labour

What the contract enforces, and what stays yours

Enforced by the mechanism: escrowed entry fees, a sealed entrant list, an on-chain draw anyone can re-derive, automatic refunds below minimum, and free entries that weigh exactly what paid tickets weigh.

Yours as promoter: the classification of your competition, licences it may need, the jurisdictions you exclude, prize delivery, taxes, and your terms. The Organiser Terms put this in binding words.

This page describes legal tests in general terms. It is not legal advice, it claims no regulator’s approval, and it does not tell you your competition is compliant — your counsel does that.

Common questions

Are online raffles legal?

It depends on where the organiser operates and where entrants live. Most jurisdictions regulate any scheme combining a prize, chance, and paid entry; many restrict or license it, and some prohibit online sale of raffle tickets outright. Organisers are responsible for checking the rules that apply to them — this page explains the tests, it does not clear anyone.

What is the difference between a raffle, a sweepstakes and a lottery?

The classic test is prize + chance + consideration. All three together generally make a lottery, which is restricted almost everywhere. Remove consideration (a genuinely free entry route) and many jurisdictions treat it as a sweepstakes. A raffle is typically a licensed or exempted lottery — often reserved for charities, with local rules.

Does using a blockchain make a raffle legal?

No. The chain changes who holds the money and how the draw is proven — it does not change how the scheme is classified. A provably fair draw can still be an unlicensed lottery if it has a prize, chance, and paid entry where that combination is restricted.