Paul Martens, the CEO and Co-Founder of Winna.com, has targeted a place in the top three global crypto casinos by the end of 2026 after scaling to $3.3 billion in wagered volume in just 12 months.

Winna.com is one of the success stories of the last year, together with Duel, the continued success of MetaWin, and a new wave of crypto casinos that put transparency and ongoing rewards ahead of a flashy welcome bonus and influencer deals.

From $15M Seed to Billions Wagered

Launched in the summer of 2024 with a $15 million seed funding round, Winna.com has rapidly made its mark with low acquisition costs. While many startups struggle with high user acquisition costs, Martens revealed that the company has spent almost nothing on traditional marketing. Instead, the majority of its capital was utilized to fund treasuries for instant withdrawals, which boosted trust, and big bonuses that he says are the heart of the company’s success so far.

The strategy has yielded massive numbers for the first-year operator:

• Wagered Volume: $3.3 Billion.
• Total Deposits: $180 million across nearly 600,000 transactions.
• User Growth: Over 27,000 unique users, up from a single $71 ETH deposit on day one.
• Workforce Expansion: Scaling from an initial team of five to over 40 employees.

Disrupting the “Status Quo” Rewards

A cornerstone of Martens’ strategy to reach the industry’s top tier is a “fairness-first” rewards model. Internal testing against ten major competitors showed that while most sites offer 30-40% rakeback, Winna has pushed its player returns to 50-60% rakeback and 20%+ cashback.

“When players feel treated fairly, they talk,” Martens noted, emphasizing that word-of-mouth has been the platform’s primary growth engine. To date, Winna has paid out over $20 million in raw cash bonuses to its players.

The Road to the Top 3

Winna currently ranks approximately #12 out of 24 tracked crypto gambling sites according to public blockchain data. To climb into the top three by late 2026, Martens is doubling down on technical innovation and transparency:

• Proprietary Games: Over 60% of current volume comes from “Provably Fair” Originals, with plans to launch unique titles that do not exist elsewhere on the market.
• Performance Benchmarking: Game engineers’ bonuses are now tied to “bets per minute,” aiming for the fastest user experience in the industry.
• Security Resilience: After successfully navigating high-profile challenges in its first year, including attempted hacks by the Lazarus Group, the platform has bolstered its infrastructure to handle the massive traffic surges expected during its 2026 push.

“Trust is at the core of our brand,” said Martens. “Players know they’ll receive their winnings within seconds, and every game round is fair and verifiable”. As the crypto gambling sector continues to evolve, Martens’ “build in public” approach aims to set new standards for transparency and player value in the pursuit of industry leadership.