Demand for illegal online casinos in Russia fell to its lowest level since 2018 as drop schemes keep shrinking the gray market

In June, the share of search queries for offshore online casinos in Russia fell to 40%, the lowest level since 2018, according to Blask. For high-risk PSPs, the point is simple: when the payment layer gets harder to run, traffic and revenue follow it down.

1. Blask says the share of search queries for illegal online casinos in Russia fell from 47% in January to 40% in June, while the share for legal bookmakers rose from 52.8% in January to 60% in June.
2. The peak for offshore operators during the observed period came in January 2024, when the market reached $839 million in monthly volume. That was also the last full month of QIWI Bank’s operation. In February 2024, the bank lost its license, and the gray segment lost a key payment gateway.
3. After QIWI Bank’s license was revoked, the segment’s annual figure dropped by almost 70% to $263 million in December 2024. Legal bookmakers overtook offshore operators in July 2024, but illegal operators managed to recover to $442 million in August 2025.
4. By June 2026, estimated monthly revenue for the segment had fallen again, to $316 million, as anti-drop enforcement intensified. In this context, “drop” schemes are the payment mule networks used to move money through third-party accounts, and the article’s point is that they are becoming harder to maintain.
5. The text also points to systemic blocking of mirror sites and marketing during the football World Cup as additional pressure on the offshore side. It says new users find ЕЦУПИС easier to use than figuring out how to top up 1xBet, and that repeated payment disputes and non-payment of winnings push players toward legal operators with at least some leverage over payouts.

For PSPs, acquirers, and bank partners, the directional signal is clear: 40% is still a large gray-market share, but the demand trend is moving toward legal bookmakers, and the payment rails that used to support offshore volume are no longer as dependable as they were even a year ago.