New analysis warns that regulatory tools now exist to integrate crypto payments safely — and failure to act could deepen the black market threat.
As crypto adoption rises among UK gamblers, the debate is no longer about whether digital assets belong in the regulated sector — but whether payment systems are ready to accommodate them.
A new briefing from law firm Wiggin outlines how the convergence of regulatory maturity, technological readiness, and growing consumer demand has created a moment of reckoning for licensed gambling operators. At the heart of the issue: payments.
According to a 2023 YouGov poll cited in the report, 15% of UK online gamblers — around 1.2 million adults — are interested in placing bets with crypto. Many are drawn by the speed, reliability, and 24/7 settlement that blockchain rails offer, especially compared to fiat-based systems hampered by banking friction and weekend delays.
Yet while crypto-first offshore casinos capitalise on these preferences, the UK’s licensed sector remains locked in fiat, constrained by historical regulatory caution. That hesitation, Wiggin warns, risks becoming self-defeating.
Crypto-first sites are scaling fast
The report highlights that unlicensed operators offering crypto payments are drawing increasing UK traffic. Unique visitors to just 22 offshore racebooks surged by over 500% between August 2021 and September 2024, with over 1.3 million UK visits per month recorded in 2024.
This growth is being driven by payment experience, not product differentiation. Offshore brands like Stake and Rollbit offer instant withdrawals, low fees, and crypto-native user journeys — benefits currently absent from regulated platforms. The risk, Wiggin argues, is that these trends may entrench a two-tier market: “crypto-convenience” offshore, “compliance friction” onshore.
Regulation is catching up
Importantly, the environment that once justified caution is changing. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is moving toward a comprehensive crypto regime, expected to be implemented by 2026.
The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation begins entering force this year. Both frameworks introduce standards for custody, consumer protection, AML, and capital requirements — providing clarity that was previously absent.
Meanwhile, blockchain analytics tools and identity-verifying protocols — including the Travel Rule now mandatory for UK crypto firms — mean operators can trace transactions, screen wallets, and monitor for risk in ways that were previously not possible.
“The tools now available to manage [crypto] – both legal and technological – allow for a more sophisticated risk-based approach,” Wiggin notes.
Payments are the strategic fulcrum
For licensed operators, the challenge is no longer technological, but strategic and operational. Wiggin outlines practical steps to integrate crypto payments in line with Gambling Commission expectations:
- Fix fiat-equivalent values at deposit to align with AML and responsible gambling thresholds
- Use FCA-authorised custodians to segregate customer assets
- Ensure closed-loop systems, requiring withdrawals to return to the same verified wallet
- Layer in blockchain analytics to assess risk at the point of deposit
By embedding these controls, operators and payment providers can demonstrate that crypto need not be treated as an exceptional threat — but rather as a high-risk payment method subject to enhanced safeguards, much like certain fiat channels already are.
A narrowing window
There is no doubt the status quo is becoming harder to justify. Section 22 of the Gambling Act 2005 obliges the Commission to permit gambling where consistent with licensing objectives. As tools improve and demand grows, maintaining a de facto prohibition on crypto payments may soon conflict with that statutory mandate.
For operators and their payments teams, 2025 presents a narrow but important window. Those who invest in crypto-ready cashier systems now — working with FCA-registered providers and integrating compliance-grade analytics — may not only pre-empt regulatory shifts, but also position themselves to retain a high-value, crypto-literate demographic.
