Brazil widens financial crackdown on illegal betting platforms, with banks and fintechs now in the line of fire

In June 2026, Brazil said financial institutions must block funds belonging to betting platforms operating without authorization. For PSPs, fintechs, and acquiring teams, the message is straightforward: the regulator is no longer looking only at the operators themselves, but at the payment rails that keep them alive.

1. According to BM&C News, Justice Minister said around 25.2 million Brazilians were using illegal betting platforms at the time of the announcement. He also said 41% to 51% of active operators in the country were irregular, and more than 40,000 websites had already been blocked.
2. The financial squeeze is designed to hit the money flow at the exact moment a player tries to deposit or when the platform needs to pay out a prize. Brazilian law already requires the blocking of deposit, payment, and registration accounts linked to unauthorized operators.
3. In March 2025, a Ministry of Finance ordinance prohibited financial and payment institutions from keeping accounts for unauthorized betting companies. It also required suspicious transactions to be reported to the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) within 24 hours.
4. In July 2026, the government notified 37 fintechs suspected of moving funds linked to 60 illegal operators. Leonardo Baptista, CEO of Pay4Fun, said: “As soon as you can block the money, you reduce the operational capacity of these platforms.” Pay4Fun is the first payment institution authorized by the Central Bank to operate in the betting segment.
5. Pix is one of the main pressure points because it allows instant, low-cost, always-on transfers. In practice, that makes it useful both for funding platforms and for splitting amounts across accounts belonging to individuals, companies, and intermediaries. In April 2025, the Central Bank president told the CPI das Bets that the sector was moving between R$ 20 billion and R$ 30 billion per month in transactions, covering the betting market as a whole, not just illegal activity.

Baptista also told bettors to check the QR Code or transfer receipt for the identity of the receiving company and confirm whether it is authorized to operate. He flagged several warning signs: no bet.br domain, use of credit cards, boletos or cryptoassets, no identity verification, weak anti-money-laundering controls, and promises of “guaranteed income.”