From Speculation to Settlement

Say "crypto" in a gaming boardroom and the room goes quiet. New iGB research, produced with RYKI, shows the market has quietly become something very different.
Say "crypto" in a gaming boardroom and you can usually feel the temperature drop.

We understand why. For years, the word has meant price charts, offshore casinos and headlines no compliance team wants next to their brand. If you're responsible for a licence, a banking relationship or a board, caution isn't a weakness. It's the job.

But the market you're cautious about may no longer exist.

75%. The number that changes the conversation.

According to iGB's new intelligence report, How the stablecoin shift is reshaping crypto gambling, dollar-pegged stablecoins now account for approximately 75% of all crypto casino deposits.

That's not speculation. That's dollar-denominated gaming, running on faster payment rails. In markets with unstable local currencies, players aren't betting on crypto at all. They're using the most stable store of value available to them.

The regulators have noticed too. The report points to an 18-month window of regulatory clarity, as the EU's MiCA stablecoin deadline (July 2026) converges with the US GENIUS Act (January 2027). The UK Gambling Commission is formally exploring crypto payment pathways for licensed operators.

The question has moved from whether to how.

The questions your regulator will ask

As Lennon Sweeting, CEO of RYKI, tells iGB: "A regulator assessing an operator's crypto exposure will eventually ask who is holding the funds, who is screening the wallets and under whose registration the settlement happens."

Before any stablecoin touches your treasury, you should be able to answer those questions with confidence. If your payments provider can't, that tells you something.

Where RYKI fits

RYKI is a virtual asset service provider registered with the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission. We sit beneath your gaming licence, not in place of it. You remain the regulated operator. We provide the compliant payment, custody and settlement layer underneath, with the transparency and discretion your finance and compliance teams expect.

Calm. Specific. Regulated. That's how stablecoins should enter gaming.

What else is inside

The full report takes an objective, bird's-eye view of the market in 2026, including:

• Three future scenarios for crypto gambling, and why elements of all three are already visible

• Which white markets are proving crypto-native operators can thrive inside formal frameworks

• Why, in Sweeting's words, "the hybrid future this report describes will not be built by the operators who launch coins; it will be built by those who solve settlement"

The direction of travel is clear. Operators who build compliance infrastructure now will be ahead of those who wait.

Download the report → Discover what the stablecoin shift means for gaming, and how RYKI helps businesses make the move safely.