{"id":125815,"date":"2026-05-19T21:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:04:14","slug":"unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Global Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025 \u2013 Report Highlights Scale Outside Regulatory Oversight<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"key-takeaways\" title=\"Key Takeaways\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Unregulated online gambling wagering volume reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, up from $5.7 trillion in 2024.<\/li><li>Illegal operators accounted for an estimated 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.<\/li><li>The report covers online gambling only and excludes retail betting shops and land based casinos.<\/li><li>Prediction markets represented 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue and 0.2% of legal US sports betting profitability.<\/li><li>Unregulated gambling appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain in 2024 and 2025.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"unregulated-online-gambling-volume-continues-to-grow\" title=\"Unregulated Online Gambling Volume Continues to Grow\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unregulated Online Gambling Volume Continues to Grow<\/h2>\n\n<p>Global unregulated online gambling reached a wagering volume of $5.9 trillion in 2025, according to a new report released by Gaming Compliance International, or GCI. The figure marks a 4% increase from $5.7 trillion in 2024 and extends growth from $5.1 trillion in 2023.<\/p>\n\n<p>The study focuses exclusively on online gambling activity. It does not include retail betting shops or land based casinos. GCI defines unregulated gambling as unlicensed products marketed to local users. This includes sports betting, online casinos, poker, lotteries, crypto gambling, and prediction markets.<\/p>\n\n<p>To estimate betting turnover and gross gaming revenue, GCI used automated surveillance systems combined with manual analysis. Based on these methods, the firm estimates that illegal operators account for approximately 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.<\/p>\n\n<p>GCI Chief Executive Matt Holt said the size of the sector places it among the largest economic systems globally, operating largely outside regulatory oversight. According to the report, the majority of online gambling activity now takes place beyond licensed environments.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"three-market-segments-regulated-unregulated-and-unacknowledged\" title=\"Three Market Segments: Regulated, Unregulated, and Unacknowledged\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three Market Segments: Regulated, Unregulated, and Unacknowledged<\/h2>\n\n<p>The report introduces a three part structure of the online gambling ecosystem. It distinguishes between regulated, unregulated, and what it calls unacknowledged segments.<\/p>\n\n<p>The unacknowledged category includes social casinos, sweepstakes models, skins trading, TikTok contests, and prediction markets. According to GCI, these products often replicate gambling mechanics but are not always formally classified as gambling.<\/p>\n\n<p>GCI President Ismail Vali said the boundaries between these segments have become increasingly blurred from a consumer perspective. As more products integrate betting mechanics, users experience what he describes as a single marketplace where different forms of wagering compete alongside each other.<\/p>\n\n<p>For users of crypto betting platforms and international sportsbooks, this structure illustrates how products that may not be labeled as gambling can still function in similar ways. The classification also highlights how regulatory treatment can vary depending on jurisdiction and product type.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"prediction-markets-gain-share-in-unregulated-sportsbooks\" title=\"Prediction Markets Gain Share in Unregulated Sportsbooks\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prediction Markets Gain Share in Unregulated Sportsbooks<\/h2>\n\n<p>Prediction markets receive particular attention in the report. In the United States, they are regulated as financial products by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Outside the US, however, GCI counts them as unregulated gambling where no specific gambling license applies.<\/p>\n\n<p>GCI estimates that around $3.1 billion in prediction market trading volume was tied to the Super Bowl and related events earlier this year. Within the regulated US market, prediction platforms account for 0.2% of legal sports betting profitability.<\/p>\n\n<p>In contrast, on the unregulated side, prediction style products already represent 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue. This difference illustrates how product positioning and regulatory classification can significantly influence market share.<\/p>\n\n<p>Regulatory responses vary by country. Brazil recently blocked 28 prediction market platforms after declaring such markets illegal. In Gibraltar, authorities moved in the opposite direction and licensed their first regulated prediction market operator earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"illegal-streaming-and-offshore-growth-add-pressure\" title=\"Illegal Streaming and Offshore Growth Add Pressure\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Illegal Streaming and Offshore Growth Add Pressure<\/h2>\n\n<p>The report also identifies illegal sports streaming as a driver of black market gambling growth. According to GCI, unregulated gambling advertisements or links appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain during 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n\n<p>GCI warns that the combination of prediction markets and illegal streaming could further accelerate black market gambling expansion in 2026.<\/p>\n\n<p>Separate research cited in the report context, published by H2 Gambling Capital, estimated that the British offshore gambling market reached 16.6 billion pounds, or $22 billion, in 2025. This compares with 5 billion pounds, or $6.6 billion, in 2019, indicating significant growth over that period.<\/p>\n\n<p>At the same time, governments in Australia and Britain are moving toward tighter restrictions on gambling advertising. These policy developments occur against a backdrop in which, according to GCI, most online gambling activity already sits outside the regulated perimeter.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"implications-for-regulation-and-market-oversight\" title=\"Implications for Regulation and Market Oversight\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Implications for Regulation and Market Oversight<\/h2>\n\n<p>GCI states that regulators are no longer confronting a marginal issue. Instead, the report argues that unregulated activity represents the dominant share of the online gambling ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n<p>For international users comparing crypto betting platforms or sportsbooks, the findings underline the scale of activity occurring outside formal licensing systems. The report shows that a wide range of products, from traditional online casinos to crypto gambling and prediction markets, are included in the unregulated category when they operate without local authorization.<\/p>\n\n<p>The data also indicates that new formats such as prediction markets are becoming more integrated into both regulated and unregulated environments, with differing legal classifications across jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"anchor\" id=\"our-assessment\" title=\"Our Assessment\"><\/span><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Our Assessment<\/h2>\n\n<p>The GCI report documents sustained growth in unregulated online gambling, with wagering volume reaching $5.9 trillion in 2025 and illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming gross gaming revenue. It identifies prediction markets and illegal sports streaming as significant components of this ecosystem and highlights varying regulatory responses in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Gibraltar, Australia, and Britain. The findings indicate that most online gambling activity currently takes place outside licensed systems, reshaping the balance between regulated and unregulated markets.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"gambling-disclaimer\">\n\t<p>\n\t\tWe have imposed strict editorial guidelines on ourselves and explain our testing methods openly and comprehensively. We also communicate transparently how our work is financed. This site may contain tracking links, but this does not influence our objective view in any way.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A GCI report estimates unregulated online gambling volume at $5.9 trillion in 2025, representing 78% of global online gaming revenue. Prediction markets and illegal streaming are identified as key growth factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":125814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"news_crypto_coin":[],"class_list":["post-125815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"faqs":null,"sort_number":999,"sort_number_no_override":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9T in 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kryptocasinos.com EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kryptocasinos.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kryptocasinoscomm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T19:04:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1408\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"736\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Isabella Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Isabella Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Isabella Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/badee6a5ed8b6777da5bd380d112bcdc\"},\"headline\":\"Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T21:04:14+02:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\"},\"wordCount\":891,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#respond\"]}],\"description\":\"\",\"isAccessibleForFree\":true,\"articleBody\":\"Global Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025 - Report Highlights Scale Outside Regulatory Oversight\\n\\nKey Takeaways\\n\\nUnregulated online gambling wagering volume reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, up from $5.7 trillion in 2024.Illegal operators accounted for an estimated 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.The report covers online gambling only and excludes retail betting shops and land based casinos.Prediction markets represented 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue and 0.2% of legal US sports betting profitability.Unregulated gambling appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain in 2024 and 2025.\\n\\nUnregulated Online Gambling Volume Continues to Grow\\n\\nGlobal unregulated online gambling reached a wagering volume of $5.9 trillion in 2025, according to a new report released by Gaming Compliance International, or GCI. The figure marks a 4% increase from $5.7 trillion in 2024 and extends growth from $5.1 trillion in 2023.\\n\\nThe study focuses exclusively on online gambling activity. It does not include retail betting shops or land based casinos. GCI defines unregulated gambling as unlicensed products marketed to local users. This includes sports betting, online casinos, poker, lotteries, crypto gambling, and prediction markets.\\n\\nTo estimate betting turnover and gross gaming revenue, GCI used automated surveillance systems combined with manual analysis. Based on these methods, the firm estimates that illegal operators account for approximately 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.\\n\\nGCI Chief Executive Matt Holt said the size of the sector places it among the largest economic systems globally, operating largely outside regulatory oversight. According to the report, the majority of online gambling activity now takes place beyond licensed environments.\\n\\nThree Market Segments: Regulated, Unregulated, and Unacknowledged\\n\\nThe report introduces a three part structure of the online gambling ecosystem. It distinguishes between regulated, unregulated, and what it calls unacknowledged segments.\\n\\nThe unacknowledged category includes social casinos, sweepstakes models, skins trading, TikTok contests, and prediction markets. According to GCI, these products often replicate gambling mechanics but are not always formally classified as gambling.\\n\\nGCI President Ismail Vali said the boundaries between these segments have become increasingly blurred from a consumer perspective. As more products integrate betting mechanics, users experience what he describes as a single marketplace where different forms of wagering compete alongside each other.\\n\\nFor users of crypto betting platforms and international sportsbooks, this structure illustrates how products that may not be labeled as gambling can still function in similar ways. The classification also highlights how regulatory treatment can vary depending on jurisdiction and product type.\\n\\nPrediction Markets Gain Share in Unregulated Sportsbooks\\n\\nPrediction markets receive particular attention in the report. In the United States, they are regulated as financial products by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Outside the US, however, GCI counts them as unregulated gambling where no specific gambling license applies.\\n\\nGCI estimates that around $3.1 billion in prediction market trading volume was tied to the Super Bowl and related events earlier this year. Within the regulated US market, prediction platforms account for 0.2% of legal sports betting profitability.\\n\\nIn contrast, on the unregulated side, prediction style products already represent 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue. This difference illustrates how product positioning and regulatory classification can significantly influence market share.\\n\\nRegulatory responses vary by country. Brazil recently blocked 28 prediction market platforms after declaring such markets illegal. In Gibraltar, authorities moved in the opposite direction and licensed their first regulated prediction market operator earlier this year.\\n\\nIllegal Streaming and Offshore Growth Add Pressure\\n\\nThe report also identifies illegal sports streaming as a driver of black market gambling growth. According to GCI, unregulated gambling advertisements or links appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain during 2024 and 2025.\\n\\nGCI warns that the combination of prediction markets and illegal streaming could further accelerate black market gambling expansion in 2026.\\n\\nSeparate research cited in the report context, published by H2 Gambling Capital, estimated that the British offshore gambling market reached 16.6 billion pounds, or $22 billion, in 2025. This compares with 5 billion pounds, or $6.6 billion, in 2019, indicating significant growth over that period.\\n\\nAt the same time, governments in Australia and Britain are moving toward tighter restrictions on gambling advertising. These policy developments occur against a backdrop in which, according to GCI, most online gambling activity already sits outside the regulated perimeter.\\n\\nImplications for Regulation and Market Oversight\\n\\nGCI states that regulators are no longer confronting a marginal issue. Instead, the report argues that unregulated activity represents the dominant share of the online gambling ecosystem.\\n\\nFor international users comparing crypto betting platforms or sportsbooks, the findings underline the scale of activity occurring outside formal licensing systems. The report shows that a wide range of products, from traditional online casinos to crypto gambling and prediction markets, are included in the unregulated category when they operate without local authorization.\\n\\nThe data also indicates that new formats such as prediction markets are becoming more integrated into both regulated and unregulated environments, with differing legal classifications across jurisdictions.\\n\\nOur Assessment\\n\\nThe GCI report documents sustained growth in unregulated online gambling, with wagering volume reaching $5.9 trillion in 2025 and illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming gross gaming revenue. It identifies prediction markets and illegal sports streaming as significant components of this ecosystem and highlights varying regulatory responses in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Gibraltar, Australia, and Britain. The findings indicate that most online gambling activity currently takes place outside licensed systems, reshaping the balance between regulated and unregulated markets.\\n\\n\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\",\"name\":\"Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9T in 2025\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-19T21:04:14+02:00\",\"description\":\"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg\",\"width\":1408,\"height\":736,\"caption\":\"Digital globe with network grid, towering bar chart with upward arrow, and streaming screen displaying rising graph bars.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Kryptocasinos.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kryptocasinos.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kryptocasinos-com-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kryptocasinos-com-logo.svg\",\"width\":109,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"Kryptocasinos.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kryptocasinoscomm\/\"],\"description\":\"Explore the best crypto casinos for %%currentyear%%. Compare top Bitcoin gambling sites by payouts, bonuses, KYC, and supported coins, with hands-on testing.\",\"address\":{\"@type\":\"PostalAddress\",\"streetAddress\":\"557 Fuk Wing St\",\"addressLocality\":\"Cheung Sha Wan\",\"addressRegion\":\"HK\",\"postalCode\":\"999077\",\"addressCountry\":\"CN\"},\"contactPoint\":{\"@type\":\"ContactPoint\",\"email\":\"contact@kryptocasinos.com\"},\"foundingDate\":\"2021-03-27\",\"email\":\"hello@kryptocasinos.com\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"},\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/editorial-guidelines\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/badee6a5ed8b6777da5bd380d112bcdc\",\"name\":\"Isabella Brown\",\"description\":\"Online Gambling, Greece and my dog Gringo are my three favorite things in my life. Before working for Kryptocasinos.com I was leading the content team of an iGaming Online magazine where I was focused on researching casinos, their licenses and the connection between the members of the industry.\",\"birthDate\":\"1995-02-13\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/author\/isabella\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9T in 2025","description":"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kryptocasinos.com EN","og_description":"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/","og_site_name":"Kryptocasinos.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kryptocasinoscomm\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-19T19:04:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1408,"height":736,"url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Isabella Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Isabella Brown","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/"},"author":{"name":"Isabella Brown","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/badee6a5ed8b6777da5bd380d112bcdc"},"headline":"Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025","datePublished":"2026-05-19T21:04:14+02:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/"},"wordCount":891,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#respond"]}],"description":"","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleBody":"Global Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025 - Report Highlights Scale Outside Regulatory Oversight\n\nKey Takeaways\n\nUnregulated online gambling wagering volume reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, up from $5.7 trillion in 2024.Illegal operators accounted for an estimated 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.The report covers online gambling only and excludes retail betting shops and land based casinos.Prediction markets represented 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue and 0.2% of legal US sports betting profitability.Unregulated gambling appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain in 2024 and 2025.\n\nUnregulated Online Gambling Volume Continues to Grow\n\nGlobal unregulated online gambling reached a wagering volume of $5.9 trillion in 2025, according to a new report released by Gaming Compliance International, or GCI. The figure marks a 4% increase from $5.7 trillion in 2024 and extends growth from $5.1 trillion in 2023.\n\nThe study focuses exclusively on online gambling activity. It does not include retail betting shops or land based casinos. GCI defines unregulated gambling as unlicensed products marketed to local users. This includes sports betting, online casinos, poker, lotteries, crypto gambling, and prediction markets.\n\nTo estimate betting turnover and gross gaming revenue, GCI used automated surveillance systems combined with manual analysis. Based on these methods, the firm estimates that illegal operators account for approximately 78% of worldwide online gaming gross gaming revenue.\n\nGCI Chief Executive Matt Holt said the size of the sector places it among the largest economic systems globally, operating largely outside regulatory oversight. According to the report, the majority of online gambling activity now takes place beyond licensed environments.\n\nThree Market Segments: Regulated, Unregulated, and Unacknowledged\n\nThe report introduces a three part structure of the online gambling ecosystem. It distinguishes between regulated, unregulated, and what it calls unacknowledged segments.\n\nThe unacknowledged category includes social casinos, sweepstakes models, skins trading, TikTok contests, and prediction markets. According to GCI, these products often replicate gambling mechanics but are not always formally classified as gambling.\n\nGCI President Ismail Vali said the boundaries between these segments have become increasingly blurred from a consumer perspective. As more products integrate betting mechanics, users experience what he describes as a single marketplace where different forms of wagering compete alongside each other.\n\nFor users of crypto betting platforms and international sportsbooks, this structure illustrates how products that may not be labeled as gambling can still function in similar ways. The classification also highlights how regulatory treatment can vary depending on jurisdiction and product type.\n\nPrediction Markets Gain Share in Unregulated Sportsbooks\n\nPrediction markets receive particular attention in the report. In the United States, they are regulated as financial products by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Outside the US, however, GCI counts them as unregulated gambling where no specific gambling license applies.\n\nGCI estimates that around $3.1 billion in prediction market trading volume was tied to the Super Bowl and related events earlier this year. Within the regulated US market, prediction platforms account for 0.2% of legal sports betting profitability.\n\nIn contrast, on the unregulated side, prediction style products already represent 8.7% of unregulated online sportsbook revenue. This difference illustrates how product positioning and regulatory classification can significantly influence market share.\n\nRegulatory responses vary by country. Brazil recently blocked 28 prediction market platforms after declaring such markets illegal. In Gibraltar, authorities moved in the opposite direction and licensed their first regulated prediction market operator earlier this year.\n\nIllegal Streaming and Offshore Growth Add Pressure\n\nThe report also identifies illegal sports streaming as a driver of black market gambling growth. According to GCI, unregulated gambling advertisements or links appeared on more than 80% of illegal sports streams in the United States and Britain during 2024 and 2025.\n\nGCI warns that the combination of prediction markets and illegal streaming could further accelerate black market gambling expansion in 2026.\n\nSeparate research cited in the report context, published by H2 Gambling Capital, estimated that the British offshore gambling market reached 16.6 billion pounds, or $22 billion, in 2025. This compares with 5 billion pounds, or $6.6 billion, in 2019, indicating significant growth over that period.\n\nAt the same time, governments in Australia and Britain are moving toward tighter restrictions on gambling advertising. These policy developments occur against a backdrop in which, according to GCI, most online gambling activity already sits outside the regulated perimeter.\n\nImplications for Regulation and Market Oversight\n\nGCI states that regulators are no longer confronting a marginal issue. Instead, the report argues that unregulated activity represents the dominant share of the online gambling ecosystem.\n\nFor international users comparing crypto betting platforms or sportsbooks, the findings underline the scale of activity occurring outside formal licensing systems. The report shows that a wide range of products, from traditional online casinos to crypto gambling and prediction markets, are included in the unregulated category when they operate without local authorization.\n\nThe data also indicates that new formats such as prediction markets are becoming more integrated into both regulated and unregulated environments, with differing legal classifications across jurisdictions.\n\nOur Assessment\n\nThe GCI report documents sustained growth in unregulated online gambling, with wagering volume reaching $5.9 trillion in 2025 and illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming gross gaming revenue. It identifies prediction markets and illegal sports streaming as significant components of this ecosystem and highlights varying regulatory responses in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Gibraltar, Australia, and Britain. The findings indicate that most online gambling activity currently takes place outside licensed systems, reshaping the balance between regulated and unregulated markets.\n\n"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/","name":"Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9T in 2025","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-19T21:04:14+02:00","description":"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report.jpg","width":1408,"height":736,"caption":"Digital globe with network grid, towering bar chart with upward arrow, and streaming screen displaying rising graph bars."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/news\/unregulated-online-gambling-59-trillion-2025-report\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unregulated Online Gambling Reaches $5.9 Trillion in 2025"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/","name":"Kryptocasinos.com","description":"","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#organization","name":"Kryptocasinos.com","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kryptocasinos-com-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kryptocasinos-com-logo.svg","width":109,"height":34,"caption":"Kryptocasinos.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kryptocasinoscomm\/"],"description":"Explore the best crypto casinos for %%currentyear%%. Compare top Bitcoin gambling sites by payouts, bonuses, KYC, and supported coins, with hands-on testing.","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"557 Fuk Wing St","addressLocality":"Cheung Sha Wan","addressRegion":"HK","postalCode":"999077","addressCountry":"CN"},"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","email":"contact@kryptocasinos.com"},"foundingDate":"2021-03-27","email":"hello@kryptocasinos.com","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/editorial-guidelines\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/badee6a5ed8b6777da5bd380d112bcdc","name":"Isabella Brown","description":"Online Gambling, Greece and my dog Gringo are my three favorite things in my life. Before working for Kryptocasinos.com I was leading the content team of an iGaming Online magazine where I was focused on researching casinos, their licenses and the connection between the members of the industry.","birthDate":"1995-02-13","url":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/author\/isabella\/"}]}},"yoast_meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Unregulated Online Gambling Hits $5.9T in 2025","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Unregulated online gambling reached $5.9 trillion in 2025, with illegal operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming revenue, says GCI report."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125815"},{"taxonomy":"news_crypto_coin","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kryptocasinos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_crypto_coin?post=125815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}