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A new report commissioned by Euromat, and produced by Regulus Partners and Helios, estimates that Europe’s black market has sustained a compound annual growth rate of 18% between 2019 and 2026, and will be worth up to €13 billion by the end of the year.
The report assesses black market activity across 28 European jurisdictions, including the UK, Netherlands and Germany. According to estimates across a mature black market ecosystem, 25 operators account for approximately 64% of relevant black market traffic.
Thanks to the “rapid growth of crypto currencies” and globally recognisable branding through marketing and sponsorships, this handful of operators are generating the majority of illegal gambling traffic across Europe.
What is Gargantoonz?
The report underscored gambling harm as a significant public health concern. It cited the Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), which has indicated that between one and 1.5 million adults in Great Britain now score high enough on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) rangeto indicate problem gambling.
According to the system used to rank players on the PGSI, a score of 0 or between 1 and 3 is considered low-risk, while scoring between 3 and 7 suggests moderate risk, and a score of 8 or higher represents problem gambling.
Although many industry commentators have pushed back against the GSGB and methods used in the survey to determine the scale of problem gambling in the UK.
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The CFTC’s move gives the agency a chance to pursue parts of a crypto market framework under its existing authority, rather than waiting for Congress to resolve the broader legislative debate.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig signaled that possibility back in August. The agency was considering how its existing powers could be used to create a dedicated market structure for digital assets that are standard, he said.
A new type of Designated Contract Market (DCM) dedicated to crypto trading is among the elements being looked at. Selig’s approach would enable existing and perhaps new crypto exchanges to gain CFTC recognition and offer leveraged or margined digital asset products under rules tailored for the sector.
