On the list
Brazilian license will be Stake’s biggest regulatory commitment to date
Stake.com announces it has been included in the authorized list in Brazil.
Loose Change: Musk’s Polymarket claim, HK readies exchanges approvals.
Sorare pleads not guilty in a UK court to unlicensed gambling charges.
The English Premier League is ditching gambling sponsors for crypto.
Crypto.com sues the SEC after receiving a Wells notice.
Break on through to the other side.
In thru the front door
Ringing the bell: Stake has announced it has received a notification from Brazil’s Ministry of Finance that it is included in the list of the country’s authorized betting and gaming operators. This belated inclusion follows the original publication of 113 operators that submitted applications in late August.
Subsequently, a list of 89 operators that are allowed to continue to operate until the market opens in January was published by the authorities in early October.
Stake.com will be in the mix and on a level footing in Brazil with acknowledged market leaders Betano, Superbet, bet365 and Entain’s Sportingbet.
In announcing the news, Stake said the decision was made following a “review of Stake’s application and supporting documents.” It added that while the full license application continues to be evaluated, Stake Brazil will be able to continue offering sports betting and iCasino in the country.
It added that it now plans to open an office in São Paulo and will also hire a dedicated country manager.
“This is in order to grow the local footprint in the region, while complementing Stake’s global operations,” the company added.
Footprint: Stake is already a prominent name in the Brazilian market and is the shirt sponsor at Série A side Juventude, which this season reached the Campeonato Gaúcho final and the Copa da Brasil quarterfinals. Stake is also partnered with UFC in Brazil.
Stepping stones: Stake has made other steps into the regulated space including a buyout of Betfair’s license in Colombia and more recently a move into Italy with the acquisition of Baldo Line, the company behind IdealBet.
In March, Stake’s holding company Easygo announced it was making a significant investment in an operational hub in Bogatá, Colombia.
Brais Pena Sanchez, chief strategy officer at Easygo, said at the time that the bolstering of the Colombian operation presaged moves into other LatAm markets.
“Latin America represents a burgeoning market for the online gaming industry and our presence in Bogotá positions us to better serve our expanding player base in the region,” he said.
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Loose change
A new crypto casino in which players can pay with digital tokens has been launched by game designer Blazesoft. Yay Casino, open to US punters, promises “a personalized approach towards VIP users.”
Coinbase is preparing to delist stablecoins that don’t comply with European Union regulations by the end of the year. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has introduced tougher oversight of cryptocurrency companies. Tether recently announced it is developing a solution specifically for the European market.
One of the most senior prosecutors of crypto cases in the US has quit. The US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement director Gurbir S. Grewal will leave the agency on October 11. Grewal has presided over 100 enforcement actions against crypto companies since 2021, and was viewed as a proponent of the SEC’s ‘regulation by enforcement’ strategy.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is readying approval of 11 licenses to crypto exchanges and digital asset firms operating in the region. SFC CEO Julia Leung said that licenses would be issued in batches to improve compliance among crypto exchanges.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has released a consultation paper inviting feedback on its proposed regulatory framework for digital token service providers.
It outlines MAS’s proposed approach to licensing and regulation of digital asset platforms, particularly in relation to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.
King of the tech bros Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X that he believes cryptocurrency-based prediction platform Polymarket gives a more accurate scoring of the forthcoming US presidential election than traditional polling methods.
Sorare court plea
J’accuse: Sport NFT platform Sorare has pleaded not guilty in a Birmingham, UK court to charges of carrying out unlicensed gambling activities. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Thursday this week with the trial resuming on 16 June.
The UK Gambling Commission is prosecuting the France-based company on the basis that it provided “facilities for gambling without holding an operating license.”
Please don’t let me be misunderstood: Sorare issued a statement saying it is “aware of the claims made by the Gambling Commission” and that it will seek to challenge them in court to “deny any claims that Sorare is a gambling product under UK laws.”
“The Commission has misunderstood our business and wrongly determined that gambling laws apply to Sorare. We cannot comment further whilst legal proceedings are underway.”
Changing of the guard
Swap it out: Soccer teams from the most popular league in the world are dropping gambling firms for crypto names, ahead of incoming restrictions on shirt sponsorship.
According to Bloomberg, crypto firms have spent a record amount of $170m on deals for the current English Premier League 2024/25 season, with more expected.
Clubs agreed to ban gambling sponsors on the front of their shirts from the start of the 2026-27 season.
Data from sports sponsorship agency SportQuake calculated the value coming from crypto firms has jumped 30% on last year.
SportQuake CEO Matt House said clubs are more assured in crypto tie ups today, compared to last year when rules around crypto-asset marketing were tightened.
Crypto.com sues SEC
Ain’t going down to the well: Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com is suing the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after receiving a notice from the regulator indicating enforcement action is impending.
The exchange said that it received a Wells notice from the SEC, which is posted when the agency is gearing to take legal action over a potential breach of securities law.
In a post on its website, Crypto.com said its decision was in response to the SEC’s “unauthorized and unjust regulation by enforcement campaign.”
“While this is an unprecedented move for our company to file suit against a federal agency, actions by that agency towards our industry have left us no other choice,” it added.
In the lawsuit, Crypto.com accused the Wall Street regulator of inventing the term ‘crypto asset security’ “out of whole cloth to expand its jurisdiction over the digital asset industry.”
Under chair Gary Gensler, the SEC has levied lawsuits against several exchanges and developers including Coinbase, Ripple and Uniswap, accusing them of selling unregistered securities in the form of crypto tokens.
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