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Following the vote, IGA Chairman David Bean said in a statement that the Senate “did the right thing” by not advancing the bill. The Clarity Act “could have expanded CFTC commodities authority” without clear protections, Bean said, but he cautioned that “it is not the end of this fight”.
The AGA declined to comment Thursday, and directed iGB to the June letter.
The failure to secure passage of the bill is a stinging defeat for both crypto-connected prediction operators and the CFTC, which has fully embraced the advance of digital assets under Chairman Michael Selig. Interest groups and political action committees had spent countless hours and millions of dollars lobbying for the legislation.
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As has been flagged in previous reports, Regulus highlighted that the top 1% of active customers accounts for almost 50% of black market revenue across Europe. This follows a similar trend across licensed gambling as the report highlights “online gambling is a consumer discretionary expenditure item. This means a large proportion of expenditure is concentrated into a relatively small number of players.”
In its market-specific breakdown, the report noted a “rapid reduction in channelling” in the UK, following the increased use of affordability checks.
The remote gaming duty hike from 21% to 40% in April is also expected to have a significant impact on the black market, with Regulus estimating it could drive the market to be worth up to €1 billion, as consumers choose illegal offerings to access unrestricted bonuses.
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Christofidou also floated the idea of issuing GMI recipients with a special card for in-person verification at gambling venues, but several MPs warned this could stigmatise welfare recipients.
Current gambling legislation restricts participation for minors and those classified as “financially vulnerable”. However, GMI recipients are not yet formally classified as such for the purpose of these regulations.
The NBA has operated a online self-exclusion scheme since 2024. It requires users to register with a mobile number, email address and ID. Since around 80% of gambling in Cyprus happens online, this route offers a far easier way to identify and exclude claimants than monitoring anonymous betting at physical outlets.
