The UK Gambling Commission will be stepping up its efforts to regulate online gambling, as it issued a warning to bitcoin gaming operators to get the necessary licenses or face penalties. The commission stressed that regulations require gambling websites that offer services in the UK to have a license regardless of the currency it uses.

“We wrote to these operators because they were either advertising gambling illegally or illegally offering gambling products to consumers or both,” said UKGC CEO Jenny Williams. “The Commission neither prohibits nor encourages bitcoin. We are interested only in ensuring the proper regulation of gambling products consumed in Britain.”

n the US, bitcoin gaming websites have been shut down for not having regulatory approval, not simply because these are using cryptocurrency. While the UK government previously suggested that bitcoin companies be exempt from regulation since the cryptocurrency is not legal tender, tax authorities disagreed and noted that bitcoin should be classified as “single purpose vouchers,” which makes transactions liable for sales tax.

Earlier this year, the UK government confirmed that they would increase oversight on bitcoin operations after the cryptocurrency was discovered to be the main form of exchange in money laundering other illegal dealings.

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