UK gambling watchdog to weigh allowing punters to pay in crypto

LONDON – The UK Gambling Commission plans to explore permitting gamblers to pay for their bets with cryptocurrencies as Britain moves toward adopting digital-asset regulations.  

The Financial Conduct Authority is expected to finalise rules governing crypto activities in 2026, with the regulations taking effect in late 2027. Gambling firms may be among those that apply for crypto licences under the new regime, Mr Tim Miller, the Gambling Commission’s executive director of research and policy, said in a speech on Feb 26.

“That, as well as the growing appetite we see from punters, means we do now want to start looking at what the potential path forward would be to create a way for crypto-assets to be used as a consumer payment option for licensed and regulated gambling in Great Britain,” Mr Miller said at the Betting and Gaming Council’s annual general meeting in London.

Around 8 per cent of the UK’s adult population own cryptocurrencies, a figure that declined in 2025 even as Bitcoin rallied to a record in October before slumping. The crypto industry has pushed to build ties with UK regulators and lawmakers, seeking to influence policy in a country that has fallen behind the US and European Union in passing digital-asset legislation. 

Mr Miller said he has asked the Industry Forum, an advisory group representing gambling sector workers, to examine how crypto payments could be “progressed sensibly”. Allowing bettors to pay with digital assets on regulated venues could help reduce the risks posed by illegal sites, he added.

“There will be significant challenges and risks to overcome in considering this topic but I am keen that we approach this in the spirit of exploring the art of the possible rather than starting from a position of finding all the reasons not to innovate,” Mr Miller said.

Illegal gambling operators captured 71 per cent of Europe’s online betting and casino market in 2024, according to data from Yield Sec published in August. In the UK, unlicensed gambling operators have used pirated streaming sites to grow to 9 per cent of the country’s gambling market, a separate Yield Sec report published in January found. 

Mr Miller said allowing cryptocurrency payments in betting does not necessarily mean crypto casinos will be regulated in the UK, since they are unlikely to pass known-your-customer and suitability checks. 

“If they had been operating illegally up to this point, they would struggle to pass a suitability test,” he said in a text message response to questions from Bloomberg News. BLOOMBERG