UK Gambling Commission Explores Licensed Crypto Payments

The UK Gambling Commission has directed its Industry Forum to examine a “sensible” route for UK-licensed operators to accept cryptoasset payments, marking the first formal regulatory step toward integrating digital currencies into the regulated gambling ecosystem. Executive Director Tim Miller described the initiative as “tentative” but necessary, citing the government’s forthcoming Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025, which will bring crypto custody, exchange, and related services under Financial Conduct Authority oversight from 25 October 2027.

Key Takeaways

• Regulator tasks Industry Forum with developing a compliant pathway for crypto as a payment method aligned with the objectives of the existing Gambling Act 2005.
• Move responds to rising consumer searches for crypto gambling, driving traffic to unlicensed sites.
• Framework will require FCA authorisation once the Cryptoassets Regulations 2025 take effect in October 2027.
  

The announcement, reported on 26 February 2026, directly addresses evidence that crypto-related searches rank among the top reasons British consumers visit unlicensed gambling platforms. By creating a regulated channel, the Commission aims to channel innovation back into the licensed market while upholding its statutory objectives of preventing crime, ensuring fairness, and protecting consumers, particularly vulnerable persons.

For mobile casino operators, the implications are significant. Most player deposits and withdrawals already occur via smartphone apps or responsive sites. Adding FCA-authorised crypto options would expand instant, borderless payment methods without compromising existing responsible-gaming tools or age-verification processes. Operators would need to integrate only authorised crypto service providers, ensuring full transaction monitoring and alignment with anti-money-laundering rules already embedded in Gambling Commission licences.

Users stand to benefit from safer, transparent crypto transactions within licensed environments rather than on unregulated offshore sites that lack player-protection safeguards. The exploratory work carries no fixed timetable, but the Commission stressed that any eventual framework must maintain the highest standards of consumer protection and crime prevention.

The development forms part of broader Gambling Act review reforms that increasingly emphasise innovation alongside harm minimisation. Licensed mobile-first operators now have a clear signal that payment modernisation is on the regulatory agenda, provided it occurs within a fully authorised and supervised structure.

Sources :
https://next.io/news/regulation/gambling-commission-to-explore-crypto-payments/
EGR Intel coverage of Gambling Commission Industry Forum briefings, 26 February 2026.