The Gambling Commission is intensifying warnings about crypto-based gambling after chief executive Andrew Rhodes said the challenges posed by digital currencies are emerging far sooner than originally expected. His remarks, delivered during the “CEO Briefing 2025” and echoed in a subsequent interview, framed crypto use as a demographic shift that could reshape how consumers engage with gambling and how the regulator confronts new forms of risk.
Rhodes told operators that what once seemed like a distant concern is now unfolding rapidly. “What I thought was a five-year-away problem, perhaps a year or two ago, I think is now an 18-months-to-two-years challenge.” He added that rising cryptocurrency adoption among younger cohorts is creating “a pressure building within the system,” suggesting that a “significant cohort of consumers will use crypto regularly because that is what they have become accustomed to.”
Government Action Required Before Any Licensing Framework
Despite the mounting urgency, Rhodes was clear that the Commission is not preparing to license crypto-based gambling. Before any regulatory pathway can exist, the government must determine how crypto assets fit into the UK’s wider legal and financial framework.
“This is going to have to be government-level discussion… once you open that door, you cannot close it,” Rhodes said. He outlined the central questions policymakers must address: whether crypto will be accepted as a “source of wealth,” whether it qualifies as a “source of funds,” and what conditions would be needed to manage related risks. Rhodes also noted that the Financial Conduct Authority’s current work on potential regulatory regimes is an important step by another institution facing the same demographic and technological pressures.
Illegal Gambling Concerns Strengthen the Context for Crypto Risks
Rhodes linked the acceleration of crypto use to broader risks involving the illegal online market, a theme the Commission expanded on in its fourth major report on unlicensed gambling activity: “Illegal online gambling: Challenges of estimating the size of the illegal gambling market” (Published 6 November 2025).
The report outlines why crypto casinos frequently appear on unlicensed platforms and why these sites are harder to trace, disrupt, or quantify. It notes that “use of crypto casinos is a notable feature of many of the illegal websites we have identified,” alongside VPN access, payment anonymity, and rapid site turnover. The Commission cautioned that estimating the overall size of this market remains difficult, as “we are not yet in a position to make a robust and reliable estimate,” citing methodological gaps and limited reliable consumer-spend data.
Rhodes reinforced this concern during his briefing. While highlighting the regulator’s operational progress, he stressed that illegal operators continue to exploit gaps in consumer awareness and regulatory coverage. According to him, “we haven’t found any [regulators] that have invested in the way that we have,” yet even with intensified disruption efforts, “we know we don’t have coverage of all the risks that are out there.”
Funding Pressures Add to Regulatory Uncertainty
Rhodes also warned that the Commission’s funding could reach a critical point by mid-2026 due to delays in the government’s scheduled fees review. The regulator’s recent expansion of data capability, illegal gambling enforcement, and criminal investigations was financed using reserves built up during 2021–22 — reserves that will soon be exhausted.
“The extra investments we have made… are not funded beyond the middle of next year,” Rhodes said, adding that ongoing debates about taxation and the role of regulators will likely shape the Commission’s next programme of work.
A Sector Preparing for Rapid Change
With crypto adoption accelerating, illegal gambling remaining a persistent problem, and the regulator facing financial uncertainty, Rhodes urged operators to prepare for potentially significant shifts in the UK’s regulatory landscape. While the Commission is not committing to a crypto licensing regime, it is signalling that the pressure to address the issue is rapidly intensifying — and that policy decisions made over the next two years could define the future shape of Britain’s gambling market.
Sources:
CEO Briefing 2025 – Andrew Rhodes speech, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, 10 November 2025
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