Brazilian authorities have blocked more than 60,000 illegal betting sites. Carlos Renato Resende, subsecretary of Monitoring and Inspection at the Ministry of Finance's Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, disclosed the figure during a Chamber of Deputies hearing on August 11.
The government began manual tracking of illegal platforms in January 2025 and switched to an automated blocking system in October. Resende acknowledged that full eradication is not realistic: 'No country in the world has eliminated the illegal market.' The Ministry of Finance is working with the financial system on additional measures against unlicensed operators, with new rules expected by early September.
Planned steps include freezing funds held by illegal operators and possible compensation for defrauded players. Users will be able to prove ownership of frozen funds and claim refunds. If companies fail to prove lawful origin of the money, the funds will go to the state and be directed to the National Public Security Fund.
A May survey by Instituto Locomotiva of 2,291 respondents found the illegal market share in Brazil fell to 38–41%, down from 41–51%. Eric Brasil of LCA Consultoria called it an 11% drop but noted Brazil's black market remains significantly larger than in other regulated jurisdictions.
Wesley Vaz of the Federal Court of Accounts called for stronger coordination between the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Federal Revenue Service, telecom regulator Anatel and the federal police. 'The state must do better at blocking domains, cutting off financial flows and punishing illegal operators,' he said.
