A week of shutdowns, legal reversals, and regulatory firsts reminded the industry that growth and risk are two sides of the same coin.

From a major crypto casino facing a security breach and another seeing its legal victory overturned in a key Latin American market, to a European country issuing its first-ever online gambling licence and regulators tightening oversight on AI use and payment verification, this week underscored how quickly the landscape can shift for operators across both crypto and traditional verticals. Meanwhile, providers continued expanding into localized markets, prediction market regulation took a significant step forward, and a packed pipeline of seasonal and themed game releases signaled that content creators are betting big on the months ahead.

Let's dive into this week's iGaming Weekly!

Industry Overview

Crypto Casino

• Gamdom disclosed that it detected an unauthorized connection on one of its automation servers, prompting a full platform shutdown for approximately two days before restoring service on October 16.
• Stake had its Brazilian court victory reversed after a federal court suspended the injunction that had allowed it to resume operations in the country.
• Entain, Stake and Betway were among the bidders granted the right to progress in New Zealand's process to award up to three new iGaming licences, alongside land-based incumbent SkyCity.

Traditional Gaming

• Wildz Group has become the first to receive online gambling licence approval in Finland, ahead of the country's regulated market launch, with up to 75 licence applications submitted by the end of September.
• The Louisiana Gaming Control Board granted DraftKings only a conditional license extension (through February 2027) rather than a full renewal, pending an investigation into the operator's use of artificial intelligence and its responsible gambling practices.
• The Spainish government has approved new anti-money laundering rules requiring online gambling operators to verify that payment methods used by players match the registered account holders.
• Lottomatica The company has approved its merger plan with CIRSA, including an $831 million shareholder payout, in a deal that consolidates two major European gaming operators.

Aggregators & Providers

• Evolution Won two Gaming Intelligence Awards: iGaming Supplier of the Year and iGaming Innovation of the Year for Dream Creator.
• Hacksaw Gaming Expanded its Czech Republic reach through a new partnership with Sazka Hry (a brand of Allwyn Cesko), bringing its games to players across Central Europe.
• Pragmatic Play Launched Mega Wheel Latino, a localised live casino edition streamed from a dedicated studio in Colombia with native Spanish-speaking hosts, expanding its Latin American live casino footprint.

Miscellaneous

• Visa Direct has moved its stablecoin capabilities from pilot to production, with Inyo Global as its first enabler, letting payment businesses prefund cross-border payouts with USDC in near real time.
• The CFTC proposed a rule that would classify event contracts tied to sports, politics, culture, and weather as swaps, aiming to resolve regulatory ambiguity around prediction market products.
• Deutsche Bank says it is weeks away from launching its first crypto custody service in Germany, initially supporting BTC and ETH before expanding to stablecoins and eventually Asian markets in 2027.
• The European Banking Authority has classified USDC as the first significant e-money token under MiCA, making it the only one of 45 EU-notified stablecoins to meet the threshold.

New Releases

• Pragmatic Play: Big Bass Halloween Splash 1000, Wonders of Aztec, Mega Wheel Latino
• BGaming: Chicken Halloween, Aviamasters 2 Halloween
• Yeet: Echo

Upcoming Releases

• BGaming: Spider Circus Hold and Win, Noche de Almas, Hot Rocket Mega Potz, Wild Cash Gold
• Nolimit City: Six Feet Under, Fire in the Hole 4
• Pragmatic Play: Sweet Bonanza Pop, Rat Royale, Chests Of Cai Shen Infinity, Sweet Loot, Killer Night, Super Golden Spins, Chronos Sands of Eternity, Jewels of Ra
• Hacksaw Gaming: Coffee Dealer, 3 Adventures of Alice, Buried By Night, Supernova Shooting Stars, Willy Wildwing
• Relax Gaming: Nuclear Tumble
• Evolution: Game Night

Advertisement - Hub88

A new age of iGaming Integration is here:

• Full supplier catalogue with free bet support & jackpot tools
• End-to-end onboarding in just a few minutes
• An easy and efficient payments platform

Integrate with the leading game aggregation solution at hub88.io

Did we miss something?

• If we missed something, join our discord community to let us know for next time.
• Join our discord community here: https://discord.gg/tanzanite