Romania and Moldova combat rising illegal gambling markets

Regulators in Romania and Moldova are facing significant challenges from the expanding illegal gambling market. Romania’s National Gambling Office (ONJN) has blacklisted approximately 800 illegal websites, part of a larger effort to combat a black market that accounts for an estimated 78% of global online gambling revenue. This crackdown follows the use of new detection tools to identify clone websites and illegal networks.

In Moldova, gambling expenditures reached over 10 billion lei in 2025, representing roughly 2.5% of the country's GDP. While the state-managed National Lottery has seen tripled profits, officials are concerned about the prevalence of over 7,000 unauthorized platforms, many of which are registered in tax havens like Curaçao.

In Romania, local authorities have begun banning slot machine halls in various municipalities, leading to a decrease in authorized gaming machines and a subsequent drop in tax revenues. Experts warn that the global illegal gambling market reached a value of $5.9 trillion in 2025, functioning as a massive shadow economy that bypasses traditional state regulations through the use of cryptocurrencies and global cloud infrastructure.