The Kazakhstan government may have unearthed a key weapon in the fight to thwart black market gambling operators.
The marketing intelligence firm Blask reported a 50% decline in iGaming activity during the first week of June following directives in May from the Kazakhstan government for active telecom blocks and mobile payment restrictions against illegal online casinos.
Such drastic results show that striking at the infrastructure surrounding the black market is an effective tool for targeting the illegal sector, as Blask noted that the intervention cut off the primary access and transaction rails utilised by grey-market operators.
Online casinos are explicitly prohibited in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, online sports betting is only available through a small number of Kazakh bookmakers.
Alongside Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan also experienced 49.5% and 40.5% declines in iGaming activity, respectively, driven by telecom blocks.
Blask predicted that the blocking action will bring in a new status quo for gaming in Kazakhstan, as large swathes of the black market are ‘systemically eliminated’ from the country.
Striking at the periphery of the black market is a tactic that is becoming increasingly common, as authorities seek new ways to tackle the illicit sector.
Last week, police in Vietnam arrested Pham Ngoc Manh, the CEO of the digital marketing business Super Thi Seo Media Services.
Authorities accuse Manh and his company of helping to drive traffic to illegal gambling websites while masquerading as a legitimate marketing company.
Police said that the company has generated approximately VND3.7bn (£105,830) from promoting illegal websites from the beginning of 2026. These included 22 Vietnamese-language gambling platforms.
Alongside the CEO, 17 other managers and employees were detained under suspicion of assisting the operation.
Meanwhile, in Europe, speaking at the recently concluded Gaming in Holland conference, the Dutch Gambling Authority’s (KSA) Director of Licensing and Supervision, Ella Seijsener, said that the KSA plans to pivot away from fines and target the infrastructure surrounding the black market.
She said: “We intend to break down the infrastructure around illegal providers and make it impossible for them to operate in our Dutch markets.
“We are open about the fact that fines are almost impossible to collect and thus are almost never paid. What is more effective is our comprehensive approach by working with hosting providers, banks, payment service providers and marketing companies.”
