Brazil Blocks Over 60,000 Illegal Betting Websites

Brazilian authorities have blocked more than 60,000 websites and mirror domains belonging to illegal betting operators, according to a report by G3 Newswire. The country began manually tracking such sites in January 2025 before shifting to automatic blocking in October of that year.

Brazil's Ministry of Finance, working alongside the national financial system, is preparing new measures targeting illegal operators, with publication expected in early September. Under the planned framework, authorities aim to freeze funds held by unlicensed bookmakers, while allowing affected customers to prove their claim to the frozen money and request refunds. Funds that companies cannot verify as legitimately sourced may be transferred to the state and directed to the National Public Security Fund. A recent study cited in the report found that the share of illegal betting in Brazil fell to 38-44% in the first half of 2026, down from an estimated 41-51% a year earlier.

Despite the decline, authorities acknowledge that the illegal sector remains substantially larger than in many other regulated markets. The combination of expanded site-blocking, planned asset-freezing rules, and continued monitoring suggests Brazilian regulators intend to sustain pressure on unlicensed operators through the rest of 2026, though the persistence of a sizable illegal market indicates enforcement alone may not fully resolve the issue in the near term.