Is crypto gambling legal in the UK?

Crypto gambling is legal in the UK, but casinos must be UKGC-licensed and follow KYC rules. Learn the risks of unlicensed sites and how to gamble safely.

A lot of overseas casino sites are now promoting crypto gambling. In many cases, they aim to skirt certain laws. While in some rare cases, crypto gambling is used as a method to scam people, since there is very little chance of getting crypto back once it has been sent. However, there are plenty of legit crypto gambling websites too, which does beg the question: “Is crypto gambling legal in the UK?” Let’s review the issue.

What is crypto gambling?

Crypto gambling involves placing bets with a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin. Crypto casino sites, many of which can be found at www.casinomeister.com/crypto/, are starting to become more popular since a surprising number of people now hold crypto. Many of the major payment processors in the online casino world even let you exchange your crypto for real cash, and the other way around too.

A crypto gambling website lets you make wagers with crypto rather than the pound. However, a large number of the crypto gambling websites you find in the UK will not let you gamble with crypto directly. Instead, you’ll be converting your crypto into GBP at the point of transaction. 

A lot of people wonder whether crypto gambling is legal in the UK. The answer is that it is 100% legal to gamble with crypto in the UK. However, there are a couple of rules:

  1. The online casino must be licensed to operate in the UK.

  2. You cannot play anonymously.

For the first point, as you may well know, online casinos in the UK need to be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) before they can offer services to residents of the UK. Any websites offering gambling services in the UK are operating illegally if they do not hold a license. 

While it is 100% fine for a site to allow crypto gambling, they do require a license. You’ll find that many crypto casinos don’t have a license to operate in the UK. You aren’t breaking the law if you gamble with them, but be aware that you don’t have any protection if something goes wrong.

Secondly, due to Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, any online casino operating legally in the UK needs to know who they are dealing with. This is to help prevent money laundering and ensure that any problem gamblers are properly barred from gambling at the online casino. This means that you do lose one of the major advantages of cryptocurrency when you gamble at a legal online casino in the UK — your anonymity. This won’t be a problem for the vast majority of people. 

The blockchain record won’t indicate that you have spent money on online gambling, nor will there be any indicator of who you are on the blockchain. All the ‘public’ information will be kept anonymous. However, the online casino absolutely must know who you are. They’ll even ask for ID, so you cannot gamble at a British casino legally and keep your identity hidden.

What happens if you gamble at an unlicensed online casino in the UK?

While it isn’t technically illegal for you to gamble at an unlicensed online casino, it is illegal for an unlicensed online casino to offer its services to you. Despite this grey area, it isn’t the best idea to be gambling there, since you’ll lose a lot of protections.

Many crypto casino sites that are not licensed in the UK are scams. As mentioned at the start, once you’ve deposited crypto or made a purchase, it is difficult to get your funds back if there is a problem. Scammers take advantage of this. If a site is licensed to operate in the UK, then you know you’re not dealing with a scam website, and that is worth it alone.

Licensing in the UK also means that you have protection from fraud in other ways. For example, the UKGC will make sure that everything that the online casino does is above board. This means that they regularly check to ensure the games are fair, that nothing is being manipulated, and that customers have their rights protected. If there is an issue, then you can feel confident knowing that the UKGC will be there to help you exercise your rights.

As a result, we highly recommend that you only ever gamble at licensed online casinos in the UK. You can check whether a website is licensed by looking at their website. All their licensing details should be published somewhere at the bottom of their page. Make sure that you check the license with the UKGC to ensure it is genuine.

Final thoughts 

It is not illegal to gamble with crypto in the UK, but any casino platform does need to be licensed to offer crypto gambling services. There is no special license for this. The standard online gambling license will cover absolutely everything here. Do not gamble anywhere that is unlicensed. While it isn’t technically illegal for you to gamble at unlicensed sites, you have zero protections if you do.