When bet365 announced in March last year it was exiting various jurisdictions including China, the Stoke-on-Trent-based online giant said it was “consolidating its resources to centre on gaining market share in regions that provide long-term sustainable revenue”. Few would have thought that within months the likes of Stake, 1xBet and Yolo Group would be saying almost exactly the same thing.
Bet365’s move immediately set tongues wagging about a potential sale or listing – and Yolo founder Tim Heath acknowledged this as a factor in his pivot: “If you’re looking for an exit, [investment firms] Blackstone and CVC [Capital Partners] cannot purchase black revenues.” For now, neither 1xBet nor Stake are planning a sale or public listing. Indeed, a banker who specialises in the industry told EGR that, given their respective histories, neither are saleable, unless to a large private family office.
The finance industry has moved on from the days when it was willing to back the likes of GVC Holdings to acquire Ladbrokes Coral or Amaya to buy PokerStars. One only needs to look at the UK authorities’ pursuit of former GVC CEO Kenny Alexander or the Gambling Commission’s (GC) investigation of supplier Evolution to see how the world is changing. “The mood and knowledge of banks and investors have changed, and they are more aware of the risks,” says the banker. “People were more tolerant of their business practices back then.”
“What is the reason for listing?” asks Stake’s chief strategy officer, Brais Pena. “Sometimes it’s because you need access to capital. Sometimes it’s because you want an exit. That’s not our case right now. We love this company, we love the business we created, and we want this company to endure and keep going for the next 20 years. And this [regulated markets] is the way to do it right.”
Given its scale, Stake doesn’t need access to capital, and billionaire founders Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani seem unlikely to sell in the near future. Craven and Tehrani are prodigiously young at 30 and 32, respectively, according to Forbes. If they want to keep going for another 20 years, they have the time to radically overhaul the business and its reputation.
At 1xBet, strategic adviser Simon Westbury says a decision was made to focus on long-term sustainability: “We needed to make choices that reinforce stability and it was decided that the future growth of 1xBet ultimately lies in regulated markets.” What those more accustomed to discussing Anglo-American public companies might not realise is just how long term these strategic choices might be.
A road well travelled
Bet365 has evolved to the extent that it could publicly let go of a country that it previously refused to acknowledge, though analyst firm Regulus Partners wrote in a blog post following the exit announcement that China had been “waning in importance” since 2014 – an era when it was “probably bet365’s second-largest market after the UK”. Stake and 1xBet might be further behind on the evolutionary curve and have, put politely, had a far greater tolerance for risky business practices – but they are following a similar path.
Yolo’s change is by far the most dramatic. The Estonia-based business is due to sell both its main crypto gambling sites (Bitcasino.io and Sportsbet.io) and has unveiled a new B2C brand, Yolo.com. At the same time, Yolo is refocusing its B2B operations on licensed jurisdictions. Heath admits Bitcasino.io and Sportsbet.io were struggling amid an explosion of new crypto casinos. Yolo was a pioneer of crypto gambling but lacks the scale of 1xBet and Stake, which have a fair claim to be the world’s largest operators with bet365.
The decisive catalyst, however, was the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regulator, which told Yolo it must abandon grey markets if it wanted a B2B licence. Yolo complied and promptly secured the licence. Former LeoVegas Group and bet365 marketing exec Lauren Findlay has been recruited as chief digital officer to lead the launch of Yolo.com, yet Heath’s messaging about the group’s strategic direction is confusing. He wrote that he is “sick” of B2C and called it “toxic”, while launching Yolo.com as a new brand for regulated markets.
The Australian’s challenge is that few jurisdictions regulate crypto gambling. Just a few months into her new job, Findlay is optimistic: “It is natural to adapt business practices to fast-moving changes,” she says. “We envision a great market not just in the UAE but in other regulated markets, too. Estonia has been a truly valuable proving ground for us.”
Back at Stake, Pena confirms regulators are asking the operator about crypto as they regulate – New Zealand being a live example. “They are open to suggestions,” he says. Findlay suggests attitudes are changing: “We have seen increasing adoption and a changing of philosophy when it comes to crypto. No longer is it a niche concept – it has gone mainstream. There are always going to be hurdles but, with growing competition, these will begin to come down. We will see a new race to regulate the sector as global demand continues to increase.”
A question of image
At a press conference at the SBC Summit in Lisbon last September, Westbury declared: “1xBet wants to be seen as being at the forefront of player protection.” For an operator whose reputation has been marred by controversy, this was a bold claim – and one met with some cynicism. The Cyprus-based operator has been pursued by a series of scandals – from a topless live dealer studio to offering bets on underage sports to the GC supposedly withdrawing its operating licence in 2019.
Westbury acknowledges the controversies: “There are questions that need to be answered, I am not going to lie about that. We have got to answer these questions.” While a lot of the problems stemmed from issues with franchisees and partners, the company has since overhauled its partner-vetting process and introduced its ‘Corporate Governance Policy in Licensed Jurisdictions’, which all third-party franchises or partners need to sign.
On offering markets on under-18 sports, Westbury makes it clear this is a red line that 1xBet absolutely would not cross. He accepts the fact it was offering those markets but points out there was nothing in the regulations that forbade it. “It was not a good thing to be doing, but we weren’t in breach of licensed regulations,” he says.
When it comes to the GC, it was FSB Technology that got into hot water for anti-money laundering (AML) failures on the white-label sites it operated for 1xBet. The episode resulted in a £29,237 financial penalty for FSB Technology and the forfeiture of its operating licence, after which it pivoted to a B2B-only model. Westbury accepts the industry’s cynicism but insists the company must be judged on its current conduct rather than events from six years ago.
Beyond crypto
Stake, like 1xBet, straddles both crypto and fiat betting. Pena makes it clear that the motivation driving its regulatory push is market expansion, not simply reputation management. “We want to expand our reach,” he says. “We already have crypto. So, the way to reach new customers in some places is through getting the local currency because not everyone has crypto. So, yes, our growth comes more from the fiat side.”
While crypto wagers still generate slightly more revenue, Pena says Stake sees its strongest growth potential in regulated fiat markets. The company’s expansion strategy has been aggressive: in January 2025 it acquired Danish operator VinderCasino, and has licences across Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Italy
and, more recently, Mexico, Paraguay and Ontario.
The move into Denmark illustrates some of the challenges of adapting to regulated markets. Pena reveals the operator is almost ready to launch the Stake brand in the Nordic country nearly a year after acquiring VinderCasino. “Obviously the expectations that people put on us are pretty big,” he explains. “So, we want to be correct with everything we do. And, yes, it takes time to adapt.”
While Stake has chosen to acquire licences in regulated markets over the past 18 months (with more to come, Pena promises), for 1xBet the journey into regulated jurisdictions began almost 10 years ago when it secured its first regulated market licence in Kazakhstan. Thus began a journey through “the ‘stans’” before continuing its licensing route in Africa. Cameroon and Nigeria were added to the portfolio in 2018, triggering a major expansion across the continent from 2020 to 2022. It now holds 25 licences in Africa.
More recently, the focus has shifted to Latam. Mexico was the first licence acquired in the region in 2020 and you can expect 1xBet to have the majority of licensed Latam covered by this time next year. Europe has been less of a focus, but with licences in Spain and Italy it has not been completely neglected. At the moment, there are no plans to re-enter the UK but there is nothing stopping 1xBet from applying for a licence.
Given the recently announced hike in remote sports and gaming tax rates, Westbury points out, it is an unlikely home for new entrants. In tandem with the quest for licences, EGR understands there has been a withdrawal from some markets that would be considered black, though he declined to comment on this issue.
Basic freedoms
For Yolo – perhaps all three – personal safety and reputational risks have also played a role. For instance, Heath survived a failed kidnap attempt in Estonia in 2024. In public comments, the loquacious founder spoke about the importance of quality of life and alluded to basic freedoms such as travel and posting on social media. Westbury voiced similar concerns. The exiled Russian founders of 1xBet have their own rea-sons – other than a lack of English –
for remaining in the shadows while Westbury assumes front-of-house duties.
“Where money is and where success is there’s always an issue of personal security,” says Westbury, noting a number of senior gambling execs now have their own bodyguards. “If you’re a public figure in a gaming company and you’re known to be successful, then unfortunately it now comes as part of the job.”
For 1xBet and Stake the direction of travel is clear: expand into regulated markets, build strong relationships with regulators and marketing relationships with top-tier partners such as Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona (1xBet) or Formula 1 and the Argentina national football team (Stake). “Keep building brand power and credibility worldwide by engaging governments, regulators and media,” says Westbury. “We want to be visible, respected and part of the conversation everywhere we operate.”
1xBet will have a steeper hill to climb to foster a healthy reputation in the eyes of its Anglo-centric peers, but these moves are not without precedent. For Yolo, the strategic rationale is slightly less apparent. Heath claims to have spent three years planning this move, but the concept of flying VIPs to Yolo’s Bombay Casino in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, and connecting them with a fully regulated Yolo.com, flounders slightly on the lack of crypto regulation.
And anyone who has followed the direction of travel in regulated markets in recent years, with the rise of affordability checks and AML regulations, might question whether VIPs are even welcome in the regulated market anymore.
Yolo is fully committed to its home jurisdiction of Estonia, and the Bombay Casino is seen as a vital element in that picture: “We are building something the industry has never seen before: a unified ecosystem that brings land-based and online gaming together under one wallet, powered by crypto and technology,” Heath wrote on his blog.
While some commentators have questioned whether Estonia is ‘the new Curaçao’, Findlay declares: “Estonia has a comprehensive and stringent regulatory framework for digital assets like crypto with strict AML and KYC practices in place. It has been a European pioneer in the space, with a supportive government which will not allow non-licensed entities to enter the market.”
The shift underway at these operators is not unique. It fits the broader evolution of the industry. In their early days, heavyweights such as bet365, 888, Playtech and PokerStars operated largely in grey or unregulated markets because regulation in many jurisdictions didn’t exist. As the industry matured, regulators caught up and operators adapted.
What makes the current moment different is that certain regulatory bodies are becoming more punitive and much more likely to observe and act on misdemeanours in other jurisdictions. For companies like 1xBet, Stake and Yolo, doubling down on licensed jurisdictions is no longer an aspirational idea, it’s a practical necessity if they want to live a decent quality of life, compete legitimately and prosper in the long term.
The post Greyed out: The pivot to the regulated arena first appeared on EGR Intel.
Crypto gambling powerhouse Stake is growing its footprint across regulated markets, Yolo Group is turning its back on grey jurisdictions altogether, and 1XBet is acquiring domestic licences and attempting to remould its image. So, what’s driving this shift?
The post Greyed out: The pivot to the regulated arena first appeared on EGR Intel.