Chile’s betting-platform ban would push players into the black market, Francisco Leiva says

Francisco Leiva, founder of AgruGaming and former superintendent of Casinos and Games, argues that banning online betting platforms in Chile would not remove demand; it would move it underground. For PSPs and operators, the real issue is straightforward: prohibition creates a larger unregulated market, while regulation creates a framework for monitoring, age controls, anti-money-laundering checks, and tax collection.

1. Leiva compared a possible ban on betting platforms in Chile to the United States’ Prohibition-era alcohol ban, saying it would repeat the same mistake: “It would be naive to think that a prohibition is going to solve the problem.” His point is that demand already exists, so the activity does not disappear under a ban.
2. He said the better way to fight illegal gambling is regulation, because licensed operators are the first to report unlicensed ones. For high-risk payment providers, that matters because regulated operators tend to create clearer merchant profiles, reporting duties, and compliance expectations than a banned market run through clandestine channels.
3. Leiva also said current technology is sufficient to support modern rules for the sector, including controls to prevent minors from accessing platforms and tools for responsible gambling policies that identify and protect adults showing problematic behavior or gambling addiction.
4. He added that a solid regulatory framework would help prevent complex crimes such as money laundering and would create a formal tax structure that benefits Chile’s public finances. In practice, that is the difference between a payments flow that can be monitored and one that just disappears into cash-like or opaque channels.

Chile is still discussing a definitive regulatory framework for digital gambling, and Leiva’s argument is the standard one operators and PSPs usually make for high-risk verticals: if the state wants visibility, tax receipts, and enforcement, it needs a licensing regime, not a blanket ban.