Crypto Casino Referral Program Development

Crypto Casino Referral Program Development

A referral program turns existing players into a channel for attracting new ones. In a crypto casino, this is especially effective: the crypto community is active on social networks and messengers, and trust in recommendations from real users exceeds advertising.

Referral Program Models

CPA (Cost per Acquisition) — fixed payment for each referred player who makes a deposit. Simple for the user, clear result.

Revenue Share — a percentage of losses (GGR) from referred players. Passive income, encourages referring quality active players.

Hybrid — combination of CPA + Rev Share. CPA is paid immediately, rev share — continuously.

Tier-based — if a referred player brings someone themselves, the upper level also gets a percentage.

Technical Implementation

class ReferralService:
    async def generate_referral_code(self, user_id: str) -> str:
        """Generate unique referral code"""
        # Short code based on user_id + random suffix
        code = base62_encode(int(user_id.replace('-', ''), 16) % 1_000_000_000)
        code = code[:8].upper()

        # Check uniqueness
        while await self.ref_repo.code_exists(code):
            code = generate_random_code(8)

        await self.ref_repo.save_code(user_id, code)
        return code

    async def register_referral(self, new_user_id: str, referral_code: str):
        """Link new user to referrer"""
        referrer = await self.ref_repo.get_by_code(referral_code)
        if not referrer:
            return  # Invalid code, ignore silently

        if referrer.user_id == new_user_id:
            return  # Cannot refer oneself

        # Check self-referral through device fingerprint / IP
        if await self.is_same_user_likely(referrer.user_id, new_user_id):
            await self.flag_suspicious(referrer.user_id, new_user_id, "POSSIBLE_SELF_REFERRAL")
            return

        await self.ref_repo.save_referral(
            referrer_id=referrer.user_id,
            referred_id=new_user_id,
            code_used=referral_code,
        )

    async def on_qualifying_deposit(self, user_id: str, deposit_amount: Decimal):
        """Called when referral makes first deposit"""
        referral = await self.ref_repo.get_referral(referred_id=user_id)
        if not referral or referral.cpa_paid:
            return

        program = await self.get_active_program()

        # Check minimum deposit for CPA
        if deposit_amount < program.min_deposit_for_cpa:
            return

        # Pay CPA
        await self.pay_cpa(
            referrer_id=referral.referrer_id,
            referred_id=user_id,
            amount=program.cpa_amount,
            deposit_amount=deposit_amount,
        )

        await self.ref_repo.mark_cpa_paid(referral.id)

    async def calculate_monthly_rev_share(self):
        """Monthly revenue share calculation"""
        program = await self.get_active_program()
        month_start = get_last_month_start()
        month_end = get_last_month_end()

        referrers = await self.ref_repo.get_active_referrers()

        for referrer_id in referrers:
            referred_users = await self.ref_repo.get_referred_users(referrer_id)

            total_ggr = Decimal(0)
            for referred_id in referred_users:
                user_ggr = await self.bet_repo.get_ggr(
                    user_id=referred_id,
                    from_time=month_start,
                    to_time=month_end,
                )
                total_ggr += user_ggr

            if total_ggr <= 0:
                continue  # No casino profit from these players

            rev_share = total_ggr * Decimal(str(program.rev_share_pct / 100))

            # Apply negative carryover (controversial in the industry)
            if program.negative_carryover:
                # If last month had negative GGR — carryover loss
                prev_balance = await self.revshare_repo.get_balance(referrer_id)
                if prev_balance < 0:
                    rev_share = rev_share + prev_balance
                    if rev_share < 0:
                        await self.revshare_repo.update_balance(referrer_id, rev_share)
                        continue

            if rev_share > 0:
                await self.pay_rev_share(referrer_id, rev_share, month_start)

Affiliate Dashboard

Referrers need a dashboard:

My Referrals: 47 players
Conversion: 23% (from 204 clicks → 47 deposits)
Total Earned: 0.85 BTC

This Month:
  New Players: 8
  CPA: 0.04 BTC
  Revenue Share: 0.023 BTC
  Total: 0.063 BTC

Top Players (anonymous):
  Player #A1: 0.008 BTC GGR
  Player #B3: 0.006 BTC GGR
  ...

Individual player activity details are hidden (privacy), but the affiliate sees aggregated data.

Fraud Prevention

Referral fraud is a common problem: creating fake accounts for CPA payouts.

• Device fingerprint — one device, multiple accounts
• IP restrictions — limit new accounts from one IP
• Wagering threshold — CPA is paid not for deposit, but for reaching WR
• Delayed payouts — payment 30 days after deposit
• Manual review — abnormally high conversion (> 50%) requires verification