Russia passes crypto law, Kalshi says it handled $40 billion in World Cup bets, and Italy forecasts €807 million more in gambling revenue for 2026

A batch of updates that matter for anyone running payments in high-risk verticals: Russia has passed a law on crypto circulation, Kalshi says it accepted $40 billion in World Cup bets, and several jurisdictions are tightening the screws on illegal betting flows. The common thread is familiar — when the money moves, regulators, tax authorities, and banks start paying attention.

1. Russia’s State Duma passed a law governing the circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia. For PSPs and merchants, that is the kind of headline that usually matters less for the wording on paper than for what follows in licensing, banking, and settlement access.
2. Kalshi said it took $40 billion in bets on the World Cup and said it has no obligation to pay betting tax. That combination — large volume and a tax position that is still being fought over — is exactly the sort of thing payment teams and acquiring partners watch closely when they assess exposure.
3. ЕРАИ said it transferred 38 billion rubles to sports and identified almost 500,000 illegal resources in 2025. For operators and payment intermediaries, that is a reminder that enforcement is not only about licensed betting; it is also about how quickly authorities can map and block the shadow market.
4. Brazilian bookmakers earned more than $785 million in June against the backdrop of World Cup 2026-related activity. For PSPs active in LatAm, the number is a useful signal: event-driven betting volumes can move fast, and so can the associated risk controls, especially around funding spikes and traffic quality.
5. Turkey froze 6,314 bank accounts during an investigation into illegal World Cup betting. When a regulator or law-enforcement body goes straight to bank accounts, the message to financial institutions is clear enough: transaction monitoring around betting activity is not a box-ticking exercise.
6. Italy’s tax administration expects gambling revenue to rise by €807 million in 2026. That is useful context for anyone pricing payment rails into Italy: even when the market is regulated, tax expectations can shape operator margins and the economics of acquiring.
7. A UN report said the global illegal betting market reaches $1.7 trillion per year. For PSPs and banks, the scale matters because it frames the enforcement environment: regulators are not treating gray-market betting as a sideshow, but as a market large enough to justify sustained scrutiny.