According to reports from several mainstream Brazilian media, after successfully blocking over 13,000 illegal gambling websites, the federal government is further intensifying its efforts to regulate, shifting the focus from the front-end of websites to the financial support systems behind the platforms. The intention is to cut off the channels of illegal funds and curb the continuous spread of "underground gambling" nationwide.
The Sports Betting Secretariat (SPA) under the Brazilian Ministry of Finance recently issued new regulations, with more than 30 institutions receiving official notifications to explain their involvement in gambling fund operations and to submit formal defenses. According to current laws, any financial service institution is prohibited from providing settlement and payment services to gambling enterprises not registered in Brazil. Violations can lead to administrative fines of up to 2 billion reais. However, the government has not disclosed the names of the institutions involved, citing that the investigation is still in its early stages. According to "Folha de S.Paulo," quoting an anonymous official, no major banks or mainstream financial institutions are currently involved.
It is reported that most illegal gambling platforms conduct their financial transactions through small payment companies (IPs) that have not yet been authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil. These institutions, due to their small size and not meeting the Central Bank's regulatory threshold of 500 million reais, are thus able to operate outside the existing regulatory framework. These platforms are mostly registered in overseas regions such as China and Curaçao, and use the aforementioned IPs to facilitate betting fund transactions with Brazilian users. According to the latest regulations, only institutions authorized by the Central Bank and serving businesses that pay a license fee of 30 million reais and comply with relevant operational standards are allowed to participate in gambling fund operations.
A federal government official pointed out that compared to continuously blocking websites, tracking financial paths and restricting key payment nodes are more efficient and sustainably impactful. Data from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) shows that although more than 13,000 illegal gambling websites have been blocked, most platforms can go back online within a few hours through new domain names. Therefore, the government is considering including non-compliant IPs in a "blacklist," automatically rejecting their applications for Central Bank payment qualifications, fundamentally cutting off their operational basis.
The government emphasizes that financial institutions cannot shirk their responsibilities by claiming "inability to identify accounts," as the characteristics of gambling fund flows are highly concentrated and identifiable, especially before and after major sports events like the UEFA Champions League, where large, frequent, and short-term transactions are common. Leonardo Baptista, CEO of Pay4Fun, also noted: "Gambling transactions have significant patterns, and the system can completely monitor and identify them."
Fernando Vieira, chairman of the Brazilian Responsible Gambling Association (IBJR), estimates that currently at least 50% of gambling funds still flow to illegal platforms. Some of these platforms even forge business registration numbers (CNPJ) and gambling licenses to impersonate legitimate operators. The internationally renowned gambling company Stake has also reported to the authorities that at least three illegal websites are using its brand information and conducting fund operations through three payment companies—Nexus Tech Intermediações, Moeda Smart, and Moeda One. Attempts to contact these companies have not received a response.
Additionally, industry insiders have reported that Voluti, a company based in Pato Branco city, is suspected of providing intermediary payment services for illegal gambling platforms. This company has not yet reached the Central Bank's regulatory threshold, thus does not require registration permission. Voluti denies all allegations of misconduct, stating that it only provides services for lottery businesses authorized at the national, state, or municipal level, and its clients do not include any unlicensed operators. Whether the company's cooperation is legal remains to be determined by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).
