Times have changed
‘Where we’re going we don’t need guardrails’
Quintenz signals a laissez-faire approach to predictions oversight.
In +More: Brazil tax proposals, Philippines POGO ban made permanent.
ASA bans Ladbrokes’ ‘LadBucks’ ads over youth appeal concerns.
Ireland: GRAI is set to revisit its licensing structure.
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Anything goes
In olden days, a glimpse of stocking: Federal authority (read: protection) over prediction markets is increasingly likely to undercut state regulation, taxes and tribal sovereignty, gambling industry experts have warned.
Was looked on as something shocking: The Senate hearing for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair nominee Brian Quintenz on Tuesday triggered alarm from sector voices, who observed a weakened regulator in hock to the government.
The immaculately coiffed Quintenz defended event contracts under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), saying events with financial consequences qualify as commodities.
But now, god knows, anything goes: He refused to categorise sports event contracts as gambling, even when pressed on conflicts with tribal sovereignty and state law.
If low bars you like: “Quintenz seems wholly uninterested in putting any guardrails around what prediction markets can offer,” said Chris Grove, investor and analyst.
Bruce Merati, founder of BetEx, warned that letting the CFTC oversee sports bets across state lines would create a “regulatory nightmare” and hit state taxes.
Run for cover: Senator Adam Schiff warned Kalshi’s sports markets may violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and undercut tribal-state exclusivity compacts. Quintenz’s response – that tribes could seek CFTC approval to offer event contracts – was widely viewed as ducking the federal encroachment issue.
Schiff called the contracts “indistinguishable from gaming,” and tribal lawyers said the nominee’s stance reflects a preemption mindset.
“He acknowledged the CEA has no gaming definition and said he would welcome clarity,” added David Aron, counsel and CFTC expert at Jones Day.
Quintenz offered to host a roundtable with stakeholders to talk the matter over.
Walls have ears: Quintenz is a non-executive advisor of Kalshi, and has pledged to stand down and recuse himself should he be appointed CFTC chair.
Senator Cory Booker questioned his impartiality, citing his links to Kalshi and Donald Trump Jr.’s recent appointment as a fellow advisor to the platform.
Quintenz promised a one-year recusal but wouldn’t commit to longer, fueling concerns about regulatory capture and political influence.
He also declined to say whether the CFTC would appeal adverse rulings where Kalshi continued to litigate, only that it would defend its remit.
Clarity mugger: The Trump administration is attempting to push through the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and during the hearing Quintenz backed Congressional efforts to make the CFTC the lead crypto regulator.
“Market structure legislation can be pro-innovation and pro-customer protection,” he said (with a straight face).
The bill aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the US and would make the CFTC a primary regulator for most of the crypto industry.
“Only the CFTC should regulate digital commodities,” said hearing chair Senator John Boozman, a view Aron called unlikely to gain support from Securities and Exchange Commission-aligned lawmakers.
The future of the regulator remains clouded, with Quintenz potentially inheriting a hollowed-out commission; three of five executive-level members have gone and there is no Democrat counterpart in place.
Bring the noise
A world without guardrails: Kalshi unveiled an AI-generated ad during last night’s NBA Finals featuring the company’s new tagline: ‘The world’s gone mad, trade it.’ View the ad here.
CEO Tarek Mansour posted on LinkedIn: “Our team went from idea to implementation in less than 48 hours, leveraging Google’s Veo 3 to develop this crazy movie.”
“The Kalshi growth team is constantly re-inventing the way we do things.”
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Sweeps
Maine’s Gambling Control Unit issued a public notice branding online sweepstakes casinos as illegal interactive gaming, grouping them with unlicensed and offshore operators. The Social and Promotional Games Association called the conflation “disheartening.” Maine’s legislature may legalize online casino gaming with a bill that would grant Wabanaki Nations exclusive operating rights.
New York: Meanwhile, Howard Glaser, global head of government affairs at Light & Wonder, has posted via LinkedIn that “the NYS Senate tonight [Wednesday] overwhelmingly approved Senator Joseph Addabbo’s legislation to crack down on illegal sweepstakes casinos.” The bill bans sweepstakes casinos and applies penalties to entities that facilitate illegal online gambling, such as payment processors. This follows the move this week by the New York Attorney General to issue 26 cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes operators.
+More
Brazil: Finance minister Fernando Haddad is proposing an increase in betting tax from 12% to 18% as part of its new budgetary package. Trade bodies lamented the move, suggesting it would push the effective burden above 35%, including corporate, municipal and social contribution taxes.
Philippines: The POGO ban instigated this time last year by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been made permanent after the Senate approved the anti-POGO bill earlier this week. Sponsor Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the measure “not only bans offshore gaming operations but also builds safeguards for our people.”
Bally’s has settled the lawsuit challenging its proposed IPO for women and minority investors for a 25% stake in its permanent Chicago casino. The lawsuit was filed by two white men and a conservative legal group that argued the offering for the stake in the $1.7bin Chicago casino was discriminatory. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The Netherlands: The gambling watchdog has introduced a concept called Regulator 2.0, aimed at offering operators additional support to combat recent surges in the black market and changing the tone that the KSA is only focused on infringements and fines. The regulator said restrictions to protect players, including a total ban on gaming advertising, could be coming in the near future following the ban on gambling sponsorships in sports set to come into effect in July.
Alberta has ticked core parts of a new online gambling bill into force, opening the door to major sportsbooks and iCasino operators. Bill 48 is expected to be law in the western province of Canada by late 2025, following in the footsteps of Ontario’s model of regulated private-sector participation.
Commercial
EDGE Boost: The RG debit card has announced the launch of a new feature that allows users to nominate trusted contacts to receive weekly reports on their gaming activity. Early adoption of the system has already exceeded expectations with 7% of EDGE Boost users enabling the feature. The company said the update marks a “significant shift” from traditional in-app RG tools toward a more “community-driven, sustainable approach.”
Player Protection Specialist – Dublin
Head of Compliance – Cyprus
Compliance & Legal Manager – Johannesburg
Ladbrokes out of luck
No bucks: The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against two promotional ads by Ladbrokes, ruling the bookmaker’s ‘LadBucks’ reward scheme was likely to have strong appeal to under-18s, breaching rules on gambling advertising.
The ruling related to a television advert and a video-on-demand (VOD) version that aired in December 2024.
Both ads promoted Ladbrokes’ new ‘LadBucks’ feature, showcasing animated golden coins with the letters ‘Lb’ and highlighting weekly prize drops offering free bets, spins and arcade access.
Bucking the trend: While only two complaints were received, the ASA investigated whether the ads had broken BCAP and CAP rules prohibiting gambling promotions with strong youth appeal.
In response, Ladbrokes’ defended the campaign arguing that LadBucks was a non-cash, non-transferable token system awarded for activity within its rewards programme.
Only registered users aged 18 or older could access the feature and that the ‘Lad’ element referred to its brand, not youth culture.
It added that ‘bucks’ was common slang for money rather than a deliberate echo of in-game currencies like Fortnite’s V-Bucks or Roblox’s Robux.
Echo chamber: However, the ASA disagreed. Citing data showing significant gaming engagement among children, the regulator concluded the ad’s use of coin-like imagery, arcade-style visuals and the stylised term ‘LadBucks’ closely resembled in-game currencies with strong appeal to children.
“The use of a made-up currency name ending in ‘bucks’ strongly echoed Robux and V-Bucks,” the ASA said.
“Combined with shiny gold tokens and a gaming-related reward mechanic, the ads resembled elements of popular online games widely used by under-18s.”
I don’t like your tone: The watchdog also noted the use of language such as “over 100 million LadBucks dropping every single week,” which it said contributed to a tone reminiscent of video game reward systems.
The ASA ruled that both the television and VOD ads must not appear again in their current form.
It instructed Ladbrokes to ensure future marketing does not strongly appeal to under-18s, particularly by mimicking youth gaming culture.
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The listening regulator
Tiers are not enough: The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) will revisit its proposed licensing structure in response to industry feedback, which highlighted concerns over licensing costs and rigid fee calculations.
A disconnect: The regulator said there was evident concern over how the turnover-based fees were calculated.
The current framework defines turnover for B2B licences as gross profit on gambling products, leading many to view it as misaligned with actual revenues. Operator feedback warned it could disadvantage low‑margin or niche betting businesses.
A €20,000 baseline fee for remote licences and €1,200 per gambling premises were criticized as disproportionately burdensome, particularly for smaller operators.
Hybrid: Instead, GRAI is exploring a licensing structure based on GGY or a hybrid model that combines turnover and GGY to better align fees with actual operator revenue. It is also considering adjusting premises fees according to size or number of gaming machines, rather than applying a uniform rate.
The proposed three-year licence term also sparked concern, with many stakeholders advocating a five‑year term to match EU standards and reduce administrative load.
Operators have called for clearer definitions and methodologies, especially regarding turnover, to avoid misinterpretation.
In response, GRAI plans to publish detailed guidelines on financial terms and fee calculations.
The regulator has also promised to provide a clear timeline for policy implementation and licence renewals.
Timeline: CEO Anne Marie Caulfield confirmed that licensing for betting, both remote and land‑based, should open by late 2025, followed by online gaming in early 2026, with full licensing phased through to 2027.
UK tax warning
Single file: The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) is the latest organization to sound the alarm about the potential impact of the UK government’s plan to consolidate its three online gaming-related taxes into a single rate, saying the move will exacerbate the shift offshore.
The BGC warning comes with the publication of a YouGov survey undertaken on behalf of the trade body, which showed 65% of regular bettors in Great Britain believe that higher taxes would drive them to unregulated black market platforms.
The survey found that only 23% think a tax hike would make little difference to their gambling habits.
Off duty: The UK presently applies three remote gambling taxes: Remote Gaming Duty, which is levied at 21% of operators’ profits; General Betting Duty, which is set at 15%; and Pool Betting Duty, which also has a 15% tariff.
The Treasury’s consultation, launched on 6 May and open until 21 July, proposes merging these into a unified Betting & Gaming Duty.
However, the BGC warned the consolidation could default to the higher 21% rate, significantly impacting operators and players alike.
Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC, labelled the YouGov results “a wake‑up call.”
Calendar
Jun 9-12: IAGA, Berlin
Jun 10-11: European regulation and compliance track at SBC Malta
Jun 19: Player protection symposium, CGS Toronto
Jun 26: Gaming in Spain, Madrid
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