Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes has warned that regulatory challenges related to crypto gambling could materialise sooner than expected, saying some issues could emerge in just 18 months’ time.
“That is a challenge that probably didn’t really exist a few years ago, or not at this level,” he said during his “CEO Briefing 2025” speech this week. “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.”
Rhodes addressed several issues facing both the regulator and the market in general, with crypto gambling among the areas of focus for the commission.
He said growth in cryptocurrency use among younger demographics has led to a “pressure building” within the system. Rhodes added that in years to come, a “significant cohort” of consumers will use crypto regularly as this is what they will have become accustomed to.
As to the impact on gambling, Rhodes said it could serve as a demographic shift, whereby these consumers “have no place in legitimate industry because of the currency they use”. As such, he said action needs to be taken now to prevent such issues in the future.
No plans for Gambling Commission to license crypto
Despite such concerns, Rhodes stopped short of suggesting licences could soon be issued for crypto-based gambling. He said the government must first take steps to regulate such activity, with the commission’s role to enforce laws being set in Parliament.
“This is going to have to be government-level discussion,” he said. “It is a government-level decision because once you open that door, you cannot close it.
“It brings questions around are you considering crypto as a source of wealth? Are you considering that as a source of funds? What conditions would you put in place? What are the risks and how do we manage that?
“But the reality is, and this growth in those demographics means, I don’t think governments can ignore that pattern. And it’s good to see the Financial Conduct Authority are doing a lot of work in looking at how we might create a regime for this.”
Rhodes flags concerns over funding for commission
Rhodes also used the speech to set out other issues for the regulator moving forward. These included a concern over funding for the commission and an overdue fees review.
The commission is funded solely by fees and does not receive any taxpayer funds. However, its fees are not linked to inflation or uprating, meaning the funds agreed during the last review may not be in line with current spending requirements.
A review is due every five to seven years and was scheduled to take place in 2024, in line with the far-reaching white paper. However, with this having been pushed to the end of 2025, Rhodes has aired his concerns over the funding of certain measures in the interim period. He warned that the regulator’s funds could be exhausted by mid-2026.
“This does mean the extra investments we have made in areas like illegal gambling, criminal investigations and data capabilities, among other areas, are not funded beyond the middle of next year, as they have been funded from our excess reserves built up in 2021-22, which will now be exhausted,” he said.
“Just as there is a very active debate about taxation and the sector at the moment, there is also a very active debate about the role of regulators and ‘arm’s length bodies’ and to what extent we stand between you and growth and to what extent we ensure a level playing field, which will no doubt be a consideration for the government as it considers the commission’s future programme,” Rhodes told sector representatives.
“Our programme over the next year is to continue this work as much as we possibly can, while we await an outcome from the pending fees review.”
Gambling Commission remains committed to tackling illegal gambling
Despite these concerns, Rhodes was steadfast in his praise of the regulator. He set out the commission’s ongoing work to counter illegal gambling in the UK and the work the regulator has done to block unlicensed operators.
During the financial year-to-date, the commission has issued 480 cease-and-desist notices to advertisers and operators. It has also reported 188,297 URLs to various search engines and seen 104,192 URLs removed as a result.
Meanwhile, some 659 websites were referred to search engines for delisting. In addition, the commission has disrupted 504 websites so that they have either been taken down or geo-blocked in the UK.
“We’ve been extremely active in this space and in talking to a huge number of regulators around the world we haven’t found any that have invested in the way that we have,” Rhodes said.
“Nonetheless, for the avoidance of doubt, because every time I give a speech, there are people who will pore over it and feel the need to tweet about it, we have been extremely active in this space. But we know we don’t have coverage of all the risks that are out there.”
Andrew Rhodes has also raised concerns over Gambling Commission funding, noting its funds could be exhausted by mid-2026.