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The future of gambling might be closer than regulators expect.
At the IAGR 2025 Conference, UKGC CEO Andrew Rhodes warned that the rise of crypto among younger consumers is already reshaping gambling. Regulators, he said, must now decide how to respond.
Crypto adoption brings new challenges
Rhodes said that what once seemed years away could become a regulatory test within the next two years.
Licensed operators in the UK are not permitted to offer cryptocurrency-based gambling. Yet, according to Rhodes, the practice is already widespread across the unregulated market. He noted that consumers under 40 are increasingly using digital assets as both payment and savings tools, creating a new generation without a licensed route for crypto-compatible gambling.
This trend, he warned, will place growing pressure on governments and regulators to decide whether crypto should have a role in the legal gambling framework.
Money laundering and traceability concerns
The Commission remains wary of how crypto might fit into the regulated ecosystem.
Rhodes highlighted the core problem: verifying the source of funds. The traceability of crypto transactions remains limited, increasing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. Demonstrating source of wealth without traditional banking records poses a further obstacle.
Rhodes remarked that these are not questions the Commission can answer alone and that they reach beyond gambling regulation and into the heart of financial oversight.
The wider shift in digital behaviour
The UK market’s transformation mirrors broader shifts in consumer habits and technology.
According to the UKGC’s latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain, participation remains steady at 48% of adults. The total market is valued at £15.6 billion, or £11.5 billion excluding lotteries. Remote gambling now makes up 60% of the non-lottery market, with online casino games generating £4.4 billion in 2023/24.
Rhodes said this reflects a deeper digital pattern. Around 95% of UK adults have internet access at home, spending over four hours a day online, mostly via mobile devices. As younger consumers adopt crypto, that shift away from traditional finance may soon influence how they gamble.
AI, enforcement, and data-driven oversight
Rhodes also touched on technology’s role in reshaping both operations and regulation.
AI tools, he said, are now used by operators to improve consistency in safer gambling interactions. But hyper-personalised content remains a risk, potentially driving over-engagement and harm.
On enforcement, the UKGC has recorded a 300% increase in criminal cases over the past year, much of it linked to illegal gambling and betting integrity breaches. The regulator’s illegal gambling team reported nearly 200,000 URLs, and search engines removed about half.
The UKGC is now targeting game suppliers that feed unlicensed sites, aiming to disrupt the supply chain at its source.
Younger gamblers and financial risk
The Commission’s latest data reveals how financial pressures and gambling overlap among younger adults.
A pilot study using credit reference data found that high-spending customers were up to five times more likely to have defaulted on a debt in the previous year. Consumers under 25 were the least likely to set deposit limits but the most likely to trigger financial risk thresholds.
Rhodes said these findings underline why data-driven monitoring tools, like the UKGC’s Regular feed of Operator Core Data (ROCD), are essential to identify risk without infringing on personal freedom.
Collaboration across borders
The rise of crypto and AI is forcing regulators to rethink how they cooperate globally.
Rhodes closed his keynote by urging greater collaboration between regulators, arguing that challenges such as digital currency, illegal betting, and consumer protection are now shared across markets.
Following his speech, the UKGC published its new Evidence Roadmaps, outlining research priorities and funding supported by the forthcoming statutory levy. The initiative will guide long-term studies into gambling behaviour, harm, and regulation, topics likely to intersect with crypto’s growing influence.
The momentum behind digital change is evident. The only uncertainty now is how regulators will adapt, and whether the next era of gambling will be shaped by caution or innovation.
Source: NEXT.io
