Short version
Brazil built one of the world's newer large regulated online gambling markets under Law 14.790/2023, live since January 2025 and enforced by the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA). Ordinance SPA/MF No. 615/2024 explicitly bans cryptocurrency as a payment method for licensed operators - deposits must run through PIX, bank transfer, or debit card, tied to the player's own verified CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID). This is a clearer, more explicit crypto ban than most countries on this list have - Brazil didn't leave crypto gambling in a gray area, it legislated it out of the regulated market directly.
What Brazil's regulated market actually allows
Since January 2025, licensed operators can offer online sports betting and online casino games under a federal SPA licence, operating through a mandatory .bet.br domain with a required Brazilian corporate presence. This replaced what had been a large, mostly unregulated "gray market" that had operated in Brazil for years before the law took effect.
Why crypto specifically was banned
Ordinance No. 615/2024 requires all licensed-operator payments to run through Brazilian financial institutions via PIX, TED (bank transfer), debit cards, or same-institution book transfers, and explicitly prohibits cash, payment slips, checks, credit cards, and crypto assets. The stated goal was giving regulators better control and visibility over financial flows in the newly regulated market - crypto's relative anonymity ran counter to that goal, and research cited in industry coverage suggests a meaningful share of Brazilian bettors had used crypto in the prior, unregulated market, which is likely part of why regulators targeted it specifically and explicitly.
What this means for a crypto-focused player
Any platform accepting crypto deposits from Brazilian players is operating outside the SPA-licensed, .bet.br framework entirely - meaning it's not a licensed, regulated operator under Brazilian law, regardless of what license it holds elsewhere. This is a meaningfully different situation from a country where offshore play sits in a gray area alongside a domestic market that simply doesn't support crypto: in Brazil, using crypto for gambling puts you outside the country's regulated system by design, not by omission.
Tax treatment
Brazil introduced a 15% income tax on net gambling winnings (IRPF) effective 2025, layered on top of the licensed operator's own gross-gaming-revenue tax obligations. This applies to winnings within the regulated market - a separate question from whatever tax treatment might apply to gains from unregulated offshore or crypto-based play.
Before you play
- Understand that Brazil's regulated market is explicitly fiat-only (PIX/TED/debit) and tied to your verified CPF - crypto isn't a gray area here, it's excluded by ordinance.
- Any crypto casino serving Brazilian players is doing so outside the licensed, .bet.br framework, with none of the domestic consumer protections that framework provides.
- Confirm current SPA guidance directly, since Brazil's regulated market is still relatively new and enforcement continues to develop.