In Brazil, you can’t gamble with cryptocurrencies anymore. Operators can now only collect payments through electronic transfers. For the country, this is a step away from a gray, unregulated market and toward a system based on structure and control.
Brazil has officially prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies for online gambling, marking a major shift in its regulatory approach to the iGaming sector. Under the newly enforced Normative Ordinance No. 615/2024, operators are now restricted to accepting only conventional payment methods such as electronic transfers; crypto payments are no longer permitted.
This change quietly took effect when Brazil launched its regulated online betting market on January 1, 2025. In the run-up to that launch, little fanfare was given to the crypto ban, which effectively ended a period in which digital currencies provided Brazilian bettors a route to wager anonymously and outside traditional banking systems.
For years, digital assets have offered a loophole for bettors to sidestep conventional financial controls, evade traceability, and access offshore gambling platforms. Regulators viewed this as a systemic weakness, undermining efforts to formalize and monitor the market.
Although blockchain-based transactions are technically traceable, authorities argue that they still lack the kind of direct oversight allowed by traditional finance systems. Crypto’s opacity and its appeal in grey-market environments have given regulators cause for concern.
Despite that, crypto’s footprint in Brazil’s gambling ecosystem was modest. Analysts from H2 Gambling Capital estimated that crypto transactions accounted for just 0.7 % of all gambling activity in the country before the ban.
That relative smallness allowed regulators to remove crypto without fearing a catastrophic disruption to the nascent regulated market. The hope is that the industry can realign around a framework built on transparency, accountability, and financial oversight.
With the ban in place, Brazil is turning up the intensity on enforcement. The Central Bank has already begun monitoring crypto exchanges to identify suspicious flows tied to illegal gambling.
Licensed gambling operators are now subject to tighter Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules to ensure that every transaction is traceable, and every player is verified.
The government’s aim is clear: build a regulated market that is more reliable and trustworthy than offshore alternatives. But the challenge is whether operators can replicate the allure of rapid, low-barrier crypto betting using conventional payment rails.
Some industry observers warn that the ban may simply drive users back to unlicensed offshore sites that continue to accept crypto, undermining the intended regulatory control.
While Brazil’s decision is somewhat unique to its regulatory design, the move is being watched across Latin America and beyond. Crypto-related tensions are emerging in numerous markets as governments grapple with how to harness innovation while preserving financial integrity.
Globally, the crypto gambling market is a small slice of the larger iGaming sector — estimated at around US$3.5 billion by H2 Gambling Capital — but its influence on debate and regulatory strategy is outsized.
For Brazil, the core question now is: can the local iGaming industry retain its competitiveness and creative edge without the freedoms that crypto once afforded? If regulators strike the right balance between control and flexibility, operators compliant with the rules may enjoy a more stable, trusted regulatory environment. But missteps may send bettors fleeing back to the shadows.
The coming months will test whether Brazil’s gamble pays off: a cleaner, more accountable market — or a push back to the very grey markets the regulation was meant to displace.
