TLDR Unregulated online gambling now sits at $5.9 trillion in wagering value, making it the world’s third-largest economy behind only the US and China 78% of the online gaming market operates without a license, leaving just 22% regulated and compliant Gaming Compliance International calls unregulated online gambling the biggest cybercrime in the world A growing “unacknowledged” layer including social casinos, sweepstakes, skins trading, and TikTok contests is adding to consumer confusion GCI proposes a framework called MPEO — monitor, police, enforce, and optimize — to help regulators respond The Scale of Unregulated Online Gambling
A new report from Gaming Compliance International has put a number on unregulated online gambling that is hard to ignore. The consultancy estimates the sector has reached $5.9 trillion in wagering value worldwide.
That figure would make unregulated online gambling the third-largest economic system on the planet. Only the legitimate economies of the United States and China are larger, according to GCI.
The report, titled Online Gaming 2025: Global, found that 78% of the entire online gaming market is unregulated. That means the vast majority of activity happens outside any licensing or compliance framework.
The remaining 22% is the portion that governments can identify as licensed. GCI says this imbalance means regulators are not dealing with a small problem on the margins.
GCI chief executive Matt Holt said in a press release on Monday that regulators are facing a dominant issue. He said most activity is taking place beyond the regulated perimeter.
Holt added that GCI’s role is to give regulators full transparency across the total marketplace. The company says it uses an artificial intelligence-driven platform to help policymakers understand the industry.
GCI president Ismail Vali described the market as now operating in three layers. Those layers are regulated, unregulated, and what the