Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos in Belgium: Legal Guide

Is online gambling legal in Belgium? (October 2026)

Yes, with a Belgian licence. Belgium licenses online casinos, online arcade games and online sports betting, but only operators approved by the Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie in Dutch, Commission des jeux de hasard in French) may serve Belgian players. Anyone else is operating illegally, and the Commission publishes a list of unauthorised sites.

Belgium’s model ties online play to the land-based market. Under the Gaming Act of 1999, as amended to cover online gambling, an operator first needs a physical licence and then an online extension, marked with a "+". The online site must use a .be domain listed against that licence:

A bill to replace the 1999 Act was drafted in October 2025, but as of October 2026 it has not been voted on, so the existing system still applies.

Crypto casinos have no special status. An operator licensed only in Curaçao or Anjouan, paying in bitcoin or USDT, is simply an unlicensed operator in Belgian law. Stake, for example, holds no Belgian licence and is on the Commission’s list of unauthorised gambling websites.

Rules for players at licensed sites

Belgium has some of the strictest player rules in Europe, and they explain why many players are tempted by offshore sites. That temptation is worth resisting, because the rules exist to limit harm.

• Minimum age 21 for all games of chance since 1 September 2024. The Constitutional Court upheld the rule on 16 April 2026 (judgment 2026/045) and gave lawmakers until 31 December 2026 to extend the age limit and EPIS checks to the National Lottery’s online games.
• Deposit limit of €200 per week per website. A player can raise it only if they are not registered as a defaulter in the National Bank’s consumer credit register.
• Central exclusion (EPIS): licensed operators must check every player against the Commission’s Excluded Persons Information System before allowing play.
• No bonuses: welcome offers, free bets and similar incentives are banned. On 20 May 2026 the Commission reminded operators that the ban in Articles 60 and 61 of the advertising decree applies in full.
• No credit cards: gambling with a credit card is banned.

Licensed online betting sites had almost 500,000 active player accounts in mid-2026, according to the Commission. Sports betting made up 86% of betting gross gaming revenue, and around three-quarters of that came from football.

Illegal sites, the blacklist and blocking

The Gaming Commission keeps a list of websites offering games of chance in Belgium without a licence. Belgian internet providers redirect visitors from listed domains to a warning page. After its 21 May 2026 update the list held more than 890 entries, including mirror domains of the crypto casino BC.Game. Courts can now issue dynamic injunctions, so a block also covers new copies of a site that is already blocked. In January 2025 the prediction market Polymarket was added too. We do not explain ways round any of these blocks.

Belgian law prohibits knowingly taking part in illegal games as well as running them. According to the Commission, players face fines of €26 to €25,000, multiplied by the statutory surcharge factor, while unlicensed operators face heavier penalties. Prosecutions of players have been rare, but the point stands: using an unlicensed site is not a legal grey area in Belgium, and you have no Belgian regulator to complain to if a payout is refused.

The 2023 advertising ban and the road to 2028

The Royal Decree of 27 February 2023 introduced one of Europe’s widest gambling advertising bans. Since 1 July 2023 most gambling advertising has been prohibited, including on TV, radio, in cinemas and on social media, and personalised marketing by post, messaging or email is banned. Bonuses themselves are banned for licensed operators, not just their promotion.

The restrictions tighten in stages. Since 1 January 2025 there has been no gambling advertising in stadiums or on the front of sports shirts, and any remaining logo is capped at 75 cm². Sponsorship of top-division clubs must end by 1 January 2028.

Enforcement in 2026 has focused on the edges of the rules:

• Before the 2026 World Cup the Commission said the restrictions stayed fully in force and that it would monitor bonus offers, campaigns and football sponsorship closely.
• It warned that operators may not get round the rules through affiliated fan pages or "informational" websites linked to betting brands, which can still count as gambling advertising.
• Sponsored gambling promotions on social media are effectively banned, and operators must disable likes, comments and shares where possible.
• In March 2026 the Commission opened an assessment of whether Eden Hazard’s social media posts for Stake targeted Belgian consumers.

Research cited by the Commission found 52.2% of Belgians are exposed to at least one form of gambling advertising each week, and Sciensano found 2.6% of Belgian players show risky behaviour.

How to check whether a site is legal in Belgium

Research by the Belgian operators’ association BAGO found that nearly half of men aged 18 to 21 had gambled on illegal websites, with social media and sports sponsorship among the main ways they found them. Many did not know the sites were illegal. These checks take a few minutes:

• Look the exact domain up in the Gaming Commission’s registers: A+ for casino games, B+ for arcade games and F1+ for betting. A .com site of a licensed brand is not covered.
• Check the unauthorised list. The Commission publishes the sites it has found operating illegally in Belgium. Large international brands appear on it, so fame is no guide.
• Watch for banned features. Welcome bonuses, free bets and similar incentives are not allowed for Belgian licensees. A site offering them to you is either breaking the rules or not licensed.
• Test the limits. A licensed site will ask your age (21+), verify your identity and apply the €200 weekly deposit cap. A site that lets you deposit unlimited crypto without checks is outside the Belgian system; our no-KYC casino guide explains why that matters.
• Be sceptical of influencer content. The Hazard case shows the Commission looks at whether foreign promotion targets Belgians, but the content often reaches you anyway.

Prediction markets are covered too. The Commission added Polymarket to its list of unauthorised sites in January 2025, and betting on events through such platforms is treated as illegal gambling when the operator holds no Belgian licence. Switzerland takes a similar line; see our Switzerland page.

Licensed operators we list for Belgium

We list only Belgian-licensed brands for Belgium: Betsson and Unibet, both with .be sites in the Commission’s registers. Our Betsson review and Unibet review cover them in detail. None of the offshore crypto casinos we review holds a Belgian licence, so we do not list any of them here.

On 5 October 2026 betFIRST became Betsson, under the existing licence. The register now shows betssonsports.be and betssoncasino.be; existing betFIRST accounts carry over. Other brands licensed on the 9 October 2026 registers include Napoleon, Ladbrokes, Circus, Golden Palace, bwin, Star Casino, Betano, PokerStars, Bingoal and Scooore. bet365 is not licensed in Belgium, and Betway shows a market-closed page on betway.be.

Because bonuses and most advertising are banned, we show no bonus offers for Belgium. Our coverage page explains how we decide where to list operators. Italy has taken a similar route on advertising; see our Italy page.

Payments, crypto and tax

Licensed Belgian operators accept payment methods tied to a verified account in your name: Bancontact, Bancontact Pay, debit cards and bank transfer. Payconiq became Bancontact Pay in March 2026, with Wero gradually taking over its functions. Credit cards are banned for gambling. The €200 weekly limit per website applies whichever method you use.

As of October 2026 we know of no licensed Belgian site that accepts crypto. Offshore crypto casinos are unlicensed, and several, including BC.Game mirror domains, are on the blacklist. Our deposits and withdrawals guide explains why crypto sent to an unlicensed site is so hard to get back.

Gambling taxes in Belgium are levied on operators. According to the Gaming Commission, winnings are tax-free for recreational players; play organised like a business can be treated differently. Ask the FPS Finance or a tax adviser if your situation is unusual.

Withdrawals at licensed Belgian sites go back to an account in your own name after identity checks, and disputes can be raised with the operator and then the Gaming Commission. At an unlicensed site neither route exists. A balance held in crypto at an offshore casino that blocks Belgian users mid-way, or is itself blocked, may simply be lost, which is one practical reason the Commission warns players away from the unauthorised list. Before the 2026 World Cup it joined Germany’s regulator in reminding bettors to use only licensed operators and to stake only what they can afford to lose.

If you follow football betting, our explainers on sports betting odds and on bonus terms are general background. Most bonus types they describe are banned for Belgian licensees.

Self-exclusion and help in Belgium

You can ask the Gaming Commission to exclude you from all licensed gambling, land-based and online, through EPIS (the Excluded Persons Information System). Someone close to you can also request an exclusion on your behalf, and the Commission decides. Licensed sites must check EPIS before you play, and since 1 May 2026 the check also applies in newspaper shops that take bets. Offshore sites do not check it.

For money problems, your local OCMW/CPAS or a CAW centre can help. Our responsible gambling guide and player protection page explain further practical steps.

Changes to watch: the Commission published its 2025 annual report in September 2026, and reported reforms would replace the existing Gaming Act and move responsibility for the Commission to the economy minister. We will update this page when those changes are confirmed in the Belgian Official Gazette. Our crypto casino licences guide explains how foreign licences compare.