Andrew Rhodes Highlights Crypto Threats and Data Insights at IAGR 2025

At the 2025 International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) Conference, UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) chief executive Andrew Rhodes delivered a keynote address that painted a detailed picture of the modern British gambling market — one driven by data, shaped by technology, and increasingly challenged by crypto-based and illegal activity.

Rhodes’ speech, together with the UKGC’s supporting publications, underscored a regulatory approach that is becoming both more evidence-based and more internationally collaborative. His central message: the industry’s evolution in consumer behavior, digital tools, and market complexity demands constant regulatory adaptation.

Rhodes described a gambling environment characterized by stability and technological transformation. Participation in Great Britain “is  stable at around 48 per cent of the adult population,” he said, with the market valued at “about £15.6 billion,” excluding lotteries. Remote gambling contributes £6.9 billion, or 60 percent of the total, and “online casino games, particularly slots dominate the remote sector with £4.4 billion in 23/24.”

These numbers, he noted, align with broader digital habits: “95 per cent of adults have the Internet at home… People average over 4 hours online a day, 75 per cent of which is on smartphones.” Gambling operators, he explained, now rely on generative AI to standardize and evaluate the quality of safer gambling interactions, a marked improvement over inconsistent practices in previous years.

However, Rhodes cautioned against the risks of “hyper personalisation,” where engagement may cross into excessive intensity. He added that enforcement activity has grown sharply, with a “300 per cent increase in the number of criminal cases we were taking as a regulator” compared to prior years.

Among the topics commanding increasing attention is cryptocurrency. Though UKGC licensees do not currently permit crypto-based wagering, Rhodes acknowledged that “in the illegal market it is widespread,” especially among those under 40 who now hold and spend digital assets routinely. What seemed years away now feels imminent: the question of how crypto fits into a regulated framework may arise “maybe 12 months, 24 months away.”

The challenge, he explained, lies in verifying legitimacy within a system lacking conventional records. “These are going to be governmental level questions… not… questions for individual gambling regulators,” he said, emphasizing that concerns about traceability, money laundering, and terrorism financing will remain high on the agenda.

To combat unlicensed gambling, the UKGC has invested in targeted enforcement. Its dedicated team has reported close to 200,000 URLs to search engines within the current fiscal year, tracking over 1,000 illicit operators to measure the impact on site visibility and user traffic. “There is nothing more exploitative than the illegal market,” Rhodes stated, stressing that partnerships with content providers have been key in cutting off illegal access to game libraries.

In parallel, the Commission continues to monitor fairness within the licensed sector. Between June and September 2024, there were 44.2 million withdrawal requests — “96.3 per cent is cleared automatically,” 3.5% within a day, and just 0.1% after 48 hours. That 0.1% remains under review to determine whether the delays stem from legitimate compliance checks or procedural inefficiencies.

The UKGC’s latest data also show that 4.31% of customer accounts were restricted in a 12-month period for commercial reasons. Many of these were in profit, with some facing stake limits as low as 0.1% of maximum wagers. Rhodes linked this pattern to consumers who use both licensed and unlicensed sites — a “hybrid arrangement” that he said warrants closer study.

The UKGC’s new data system, the Regular feed of Operator Core Data (ROCD), is giving regulators near-real-time insight into gambling behavior. Rhodes said initial findings reveal that players under 25 are the least likely to set deposit limits but the most likely to trigger risk thresholds, prompting operators to set limits for them instead.

Complementing this, a pilot program on financial risk assessments — conducted via credit-reference data — confirmed a strong link between heavy gambling spend and financial instability. High-spending users were “between two and four times as likely to have a debt management plan” and “between two and five times more likely to have a debt default in the last 12 months.” Rhodes said such evidence supports “targeting interventions where risk concentrates,” while maintaining respect for personal choice.

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Rhodes also emphasized the broader regulatory mission: aligning research, data, and enforcement through collective action. The Commission’s new Evidence Roadmaps, built with input from academics, policymakers, and lived-experience experts, outline long-term research goals tied to the statutory levy and the Commission’s strategic priorities.

In closing, Rhodes appealed to regulators worldwide to deepen cooperation. “Find something this week, with another regulator that you can work on together… because you won’t regret it,” he said, reiterating that safeguarding fairness and preventing harm require unity, not isolation.

Source:

 news.worldcasinodirectory.com, October 27, 2025.