"What CPA should we target?" is the first question every crypto casino asks — and the most dangerous one to answer with a number from a competitor or a forum. The right CPA for your casino comes from one place: how much a depositing player is worth to you, and how fast that money comes back.
This guide shows how to calculate the maximum you can pay per first-time deposit (FTD), why LTV matters more than CPA, and how to use that number when buying crypto casino traffic. Calculations are marked as examples; campaign numbers are from our own iGaming work at iAdvertising.
CPA, CPD, FTD and LTV in one minute
- FTD — first-time depositor: a player who made their first deposit.
- CPA / CPD — what you pay to get one FTD (cost per acquisition / cost per deposit). In iGaming these are often used for the same thing.
- NGR — net gaming revenue: what the casino keeps after winnings, bonuses and payment costs.
- LTV — the NGR a player brings over their lifetime (in practice: over 30, 90 or 180 days).
The rule is simple: you can afford to pay up to the LTV you can actually collect, minus your margin. Everything else is guessing.
Why LTV beats CPA
Cheap FTDs are easy to buy. Players who come back and redeposit are not. Two sources with the same $50 CPA can be completely different businesses:
- Source A: players deposit once and leave — LTV $40. You lose $10 on each player.
- Source B: players redeposit for weeks — LTV $150. You earn $100 on each player.
Example numbers for illustration.
That is why we track every campaign to the deposit and the redeposit, not to the registration. In our experience across crypto offers, the most expensive mistake is the lack of tracking: without it you are not optimizing, you are guessing.
How to calculate your maximum CPA
Step 1. Take real cohort data
Take players who made their first deposit in one month and add up the NGR they generated after 30, 90 and 180 days. Divide by the number of players. That gives you LTV30, LTV90 and LTV180.
If the casino is new and has no history, start with a conservative estimate and recalculate after the first month of traffic.
Step 2. Choose the payback window
How long can you wait for money to come back? A casino with a small budget usually needs payback within 30–60 days; a well-funded operator can buy on LTV180.
Step 3. Set the target margin
Example calculation:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| LTV90 per FTD | $180 |
| Target margin | 40% |
| Maximum CPA | 180 × (1 − 0.4) = $108 |
Example calculation, not a benchmark — replace the numbers with your own cohort data.
Step 4. Convert it to the traffic source's metric
Traffic sources sell clicks, impressions or registrations, not FTDs. Convert your maximum CPA backwards through the funnel:
| Funnel step | Example |
|---|---|
| Max CPA per FTD | $108 |
| Registration → FTD | 6% |
| Max cost per registration | 108 × 0.06 ≈ $6.50 |
| Click → registration | 5% |
| Max cost per click | 6.50 × 0.05 ≈ $0.32 |
Example calculation. For reference, in one of our Brazil campaigns 6,002 registrations turned into 375 deposits — about 6.2% (Brazil iGaming case). Your own ratio will differ by GEO, source and cashier.
What changes for crypto casinos
- Faster first deposit. Crypto players already have wallets, so registration → FTD can be higher than in card-based casinos — if the cashier is clear about networks and minimums.
- Bigger variance. A few high rollers can make one cohort look great. Look at the median player too, not only the average LTV.
- Coin volatility. If NGR is counted in coins, convert it to one currency (USD or USDT) before comparing cohorts.
- Bonus abuse. Crypto casinos with generous bonuses attract multi-accounts. Count LTV after bonus costs, and watch for sources with many FTDs and no redeposits.
Using the number when buying traffic
- Test budget. One test must produce enough FTDs to judge. If your max CPA is $108 and you want at least 20 FTDs per source, a test is about $2,000 per source. Example calculation.
- Cut by deposits, not by registrations. Deposits can lag registrations by several days, especially on event traffic — in our World Cup campaign cutting budget on day two would have killed it right before it became profitable.
- Compare sources on cost per deposit. In one crypto casino case, moving 40% of the budget into iGaming programmatic cut cost per deposit by 34% and grew deposits by 178% in 90 days (case).
- Some GEOs are cheap by design. In Serbia pops gave a $6.40 CPA on a casino offer (Serbia case) — low CPA is fine if the LTV in that GEO supports it.
CPA vs RevShare vs Hybrid
If you work with affiliates or partners as well as paid traffic:
- CPA — a fixed payment per FTD. Predictable, but you carry the risk of low-value players.
- RevShare — a share of NGR. Cheaper upfront, but the partner has less reason to send volume quickly.
- Hybrid — a smaller CPA plus a smaller RevShare. A common compromise.
Whatever the model, the maximum you pay should still come from your LTV.
Checklist
- Calculate LTV30/90/180 on real cohorts after bonuses.
- Choose the payback window and target margin.
- Get the maximum CPA and convert it to cost per registration and per click.
- Set up postbacks for FTD and redeposits per source.
- Give each test enough budget for ~20 FTDs.
- Recalculate LTV every month — it changes with the GEO and the source mix.
The bottom line
The right CPA for a crypto casino is not a market number — it is your LTV minus your margin, converted backwards through your own funnel. Track to deposits and redeposits, give tests enough budget, and compare sources by cost per deposit. That is how a third can come off the cost per deposit without cutting volume.
Read also: crypto casino marketing in 2026 and casino traffic in 2026: where to buy it and how to get FTDs.
Want to know what you can pay per FTD in your GEOs? Get in touch — share your funnel numbers, and we'll calculate a target CPA and suggest sources that can hit it. More case studies — in the blog.