Yolo Group has shifted its business focus and will now concentrate entirely on operating in regulated markets.
Tim Heath, Founder of Yolo Group and General Partner of the Yolo Investments venture fund, explained in a Substack post that the company no longer considers “grey market” activity to be sustainable.
“In other words, you cannot be white and grey; you have to pick a side,” he said, pointing to the rapid growth of the regulated “white” industry and regulators’ wariness of companies trying to operate in both zones at once.
Yolo Group has established itself as a major player in the crypto gaming segment through its Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino.io brands. The company now believes the time has come to expand this offering into more regulated markets, starting with those where it is already active.
“Crypto is no longer niche,” Heath explained. “Regulators and financial institutions are finally recognising the transformative role it plays. Players everywhere expect speed, accessibility and inclusion as standard. What was once radical is now becoming mainstream.”
Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino.io will now be merged under a new unified brand, Yolo.com, which will operate as a “single regulated brand.” This may eventually mean phasing out the individual Curaçao licences held by Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino.io.
In its home market of Estonia, Yolo will maintain its Tallinn Bombay Casino but will introduce structural changes, including staff reductions.
“This provides a clear narrative and sharper focus in licensed, regulated markets – where we firmly believe the future of gaming lies,” Heath commented on the planned launch of Yolo.com. “We have spent the past three years monitoring and preparing for the potential of this strategic shift.”
The next phase will see Yolo launch its new brand in Canada, Sweden, and Finland – with the latter expected to open a regulated market in 2027 with broad political backing.
The regulation currently driving discussion across Europe’s crypto market is the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, adopted by the European Parliament in April 2023 and implemented in December 2024.
MiCA has created a unified legal foundation for blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and cryptocurrencies across the EU. While it initially attracted the most attention from crypto exchanges and fintechs, it is now clearly on the gaming industry’s radar as well.
Speaking at the SBC Summit in Lisbon, Betsson Group CEO Jesper Svensson highlighted the rise of crypto casinos driven by player demand. He expressed confidence that gaming regulators will adapt within the MiCA framework.
“We are seeing regulation happening now, we have the MICA regulation in Europe for crypto,” he said. “it’s not standing still, and this gives some opportunities for companies, like our company, to tap into these areas.”
Yolo Group is also confident in MiCA. Heath explained that the company is targeting MiCA-compliant markets, seeing them as the best platforms to test a regulated crypto betting model.
“The next stage will connect land-based excellence with digital innovation: from seamless wallet experiences across physical and online play, to MiCA-compliant cryptocurrency payments in regulated land-based and online casinos.”
Another major target for Yolo is the UAE. According to company executives, Yolo has had its eye on the emerging Middle Eastern market since at least the summer of 2024.
The UAE is steadily shaping a regulated gaming industry in a region where gambling has long been heavily restricted for religious and cultural reasons. The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) was established in 2023, followed by the launch of the UAE National Lottery in 2024.
According to Heath, Yolo Group is now close to finalising its UAE ambitions – though these will focus on B2B rather than B2C operations. This means that launches of Yolo.com, Sportsbet.io, or BitCasino.io in the tightly controlled UAE market are unlikely in the near future, if ever.
“We are in the final stages of being awarded two GCGRA B2B Vendor licenses,” Heath said.
Industry observers believe this move is part of a long-term play, with the UAE positioning itself as a regional hub for gaming in the Middle East and Asia, akin to Malta or Gibraltar in Europe.
The UAE’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist in early 2025 has strengthened confidence in regulatory stability, while the country has also stepped up efforts against illegal operators.
At the SBC Summit, GCGRA CEO Kevin Mullally revealed that the regulator has already shut down 6,000 illegal betting sites targeting the country, stressing that “UAE is going to redefine what gaming means for the rest of the world.”
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