{"id":72390,"date":"2026-05-12T06:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/uk-gambling-commission-posts-65000-job-to-hunt-16-6b-black-market\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T06:49:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:49:23","slug":"uk-gambling-commission-posts-65000-job-to-hunt-16-6b-black-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/uk-gambling-commission-posts-65000-job-to-hunt-16-6b-black-market\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Gambling Commission Posts \u00a365,000 Job to Hunt \u00a316.6B Black Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">UK Gambling Commission posts \u00a365,000 senior \u201cHead of Illegal Markets\u201d role to combat \u00a316.6bn black market.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Acting CEO Sarah Gardner welcomed \u00a326m new government funding over three years for tackling illegal gambling.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Tim Miller logged 741 cease-and-desists and 1,134 site takedowns in 2025-26.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\u00a365,000 Salary Draws Scrutiny as Regulator Confronts \u00a316.6bn Market<\/h2>\n<p>The UK Gambling Commission posted a new senior \u201cHead of Illegal Markets\u201d role this week, advertising the position at a \u00a365,000 base salary that industry observers have widely criticized as inadequate for the scope. Speaking at the Bingo Association AGM on May 7, acting chief executive Sarah Gardner welcomed \u00a326 million in new government funding over the next three years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk\/news\/article\/bingo-association-agm-sarah-gardner-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">saying<\/a> this would allow the regulator to address land-based illegal gambling \u201carguably for the first time in a serious way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The scale of the problem has expanded rapidly. Research from H2 Gambling Capital, cited by the Betting and Gaming Council, found the unlicensed UK gambling market reached \u00a316.6 billion in 2025, up from around \u00a35 billion in 2019. Separate WARC analysis <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/unlicensed-operators-set-to-overtake-uk-regulated-gambling-ad-spend-by-2028\/\">covered by Bitcoin.com last month<\/a> projected that unlicensed operators will exceed \u00a31 billion in UK advertising spend by 2028, with illegal sites already accounting for roughly 42 percent of the country\u2019s \u00a31.9 billion in 2026 gambling ad spend.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission\u2019s enforcement output has been substantial, even before the new role and funding take effect. In remarks at the Ethical Gambling Forum on April 28, executive director Tim Miller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk\/news\/article\/ethical-gambling-forum-tim-miller-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> that during 2025-26 the regulator had issued 741 cease-and-desist notices, reported almost 400,000 URLs to search engines, referred over 1,000 websites for delisting, and disrupted 1,134 additional sites through takedown or geo-blocking. Miller said the Commission would \u201ccontinue to ramp up our action against the illegal market\u201d while calling on Meta, Google, and Visa for a coordinated response.<\/p>\n<p>The hire arrives during a leadership transition at the regulator. Andrew Rhodes stepped down as chief executive on April 30 after announcing his departure earlier in the year; Gardner has moved up from deputy chief executive to acting CEO while the board recruits a permanent replacement. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport <a href=\"https:\/\/sbcnews.co.uk\/igaming\/2026\/01\/30\/uk-black-market-taskforce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">launched a dedicated illegal gambling task force<\/a> in January, led by gambling minister Baroness Twycross, designed to coordinate enforcement across regulators, law enforcement, and major platforms.<\/p>\n<p>The new enforcement focus runs in parallel with the Commission\u2019s separate work on bringing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cryptocurrencies<\/a> into the UK\u2019s regulated gambling framework. At the BGC Annual General Meeting in February, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk\/news\/article\/bgc-agm-2026-tim-miller-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miller said<\/a> the Commission\u2019s Industry Forum had been tasked with examining how <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> assets could be used to fund legal gambling under the FCA\u2019s incoming regulatory regime, which is expected to come into force on October 25, 2027. The framework would require any operator providing crypto-funded gambling to be authorized by the FCA at that point.<\/p>\n<p>Industry voices have been less measured on the salary attached to the new role. The \u00a365,000 base for overseeing the response to a \u00a316.6 billion problem has been <a href=\"https:\/\/next.io\/news\/people\/gambling-commission-opens-head-illegal-markets-role\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">widely flagged in trade press<\/a> and on industry Linkedin as out of step with the scope. Whether the recruitment yields a senior hire capable of working alongside Gardner\u2019s acting leadership (and the \u00a326 million in new funding) will be one early test of the Commission\u2019s stated intent to address illegal gambling at scale.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/uk-gambling-commission-posts-65000-job-to-hunt-16-6b-black-market\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways UK Gambling Commission posts \u00a365,000 senior \u201cHead of Illegal Markets\u201d role to combat \u00a316.6bn black market. Acting CEO Sarah Gardner welcomed \u00a326m new government funding over three years for tackling illegal gambling. Tim Miller logged 741 cease-and-desists and 1,134 site takedowns in 2025-26. \u00a365,000 Salary Draws [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362403,"featured_media":72391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}