A federal judge has paused a lawsuit accusing Drake and streamer Adin Ross of using Stake.us to finance bots that artificially boosted Drake’s music streams. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs had accepted Stake’s binding arbitration agreement when using the casino-style platform, meaning their claims against Stake must be handled privately rather than in court; related claims against Drake, Ross and George Nguyen are on hold pending that process.

The Virginia case also alleges that paid promotions by Drake encouraged consumers to enter a harmful gambling environment, while Stake.us is accused of operating an unlawful dual-currency system involving redeemable “Stake Cash”. The suit was filed last December and the defendants had not yet been served, while a separate Spotify case alleges billions of fraudulent Drake streams and claims at least $600 million in royalties were diverted from other artists over nearly four years.