You started Inteliumlaw many years ago and, since then, have successfully applied your extensive know-how to advise gambling businesses. Looking back to the firm’s beginnings, what specific gap in the market were you determined to fill?
Looking back to where it all began, the idea of Inteliumlaw was born when our Founding Fathers, including me, found there was a serious shortage of specialized legal experts in the industry, and we believed we could help fill that gap. The market had lots of companies that kept offering the same two or three solutions to everyone as something they knew best, without even thinking about how it serves each client’s unique needs. In their eyes, it worked as a panacea for everything, regardless of whether it was truly suitable. They didn’t care about the client’s future after the deal was done. Perhaps even more dangerous for a gambling business was falling into the hands of sales-oriented consultancies. With no proper legal certification and no meaningful sector expertise, their priority was to ‘sell’ one of their services regardless, a style most closely resembling not law firms but stockbrokers from the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The global problem was that top-tier lawyers with gambling law expertise were already working in-house for major brands and showing little interest in looking for alternatives. This left the market without an independent law firm with strong gambling expertise at that point. Not to say about an independent law firm able to pair strong gambling expertise with the highest standards of service; it was still missing from the market. It was precisely this gap that we came to fill, replacing the standardized solutions-provision companies with those bringing together specialized expertise, bespoke legal structuring, and a client-oriented approach built on Big Four standards.
Today, Inteliumlaw positions itself as one of the few experts going beyond assistance with gaming licenses, building lasting relationships with the clients to support their long-term growth. Could you outline the full range of services you provide to gambling businesses and explain why you believe supporting clients beyond the initial licensing is the only way they achieve success over the long term?
Our team can offer end-to-end legal support that remains relevant to iGaming projects at any stage of their growth, starting with setting up a licensed, fully-operational business ready for lasting growth. At the same time, we gathered the most comprehensive mix of gambling legal services under one roof, going far beyond what other specialized firms can offer. Our support extends to drafting agreements and policies, representing clients in communications with regulators, handling player complaints, protecting intellectual property (IP) and client assets, structuring businesses and deals, assisting with third-party negotiations, and even writing a strong legal opinion. Our work spans the wide spectrum of gambling-related legal and regulatory needs, and a full list of our capabilities would probably take far more space than one can imagine. As the project matures, we help eliminate risks that could slow it down, including by carefully performing a partnership agreement risk assessment from both legal and commercial perspectives. The only area outside our scope of services is representation in court. Still, our team can remain closely involved, coordinating with certified local attorneys to bridge the gap when the communication process becomes too difficult for a client to navigate independently. With our ultimate goal being to build long-term relationships with our clients, we believe the meaningful results are not created through one-time service provision. Of course, it may ease the immediate problem, but much like a one-time doctor’s visit, it risks treating only the visible symptoms while the full picture remains out of sight. In contrast, a family doctor you have trusted for 15 years can spot what others may miss and provide tailored advice because they know exactly what is good for you specifically and what is not.
Different jurisdictions take radically different approaches to gaming regulation. I know your philosophy is that each case is unique, but if you had to name three jurisdictions that are attractive for new businesses, which would they be and why?
Exactly, there is no magic jurisdiction that works equally well for everyone, as what looks attractive for one business may be unsuitable for another and vice versa. Offshore jurisdictions are often an obvious choice for early-stage businesses, but with so many regimes competing to attract firms within their borders, identifying a truly suitable option can feel like a wild-goose chase. Instead, it would be more relevant to focus on jurisdictions attracting growing interest as the most promising options now on the market. Unsurprisingly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) takes first place as arguably the most anticipated and valuable regulated gambling market to enter in 2026-2027. Despite the serious time and money commitment required, the jurisdiction’s largely untapped market offers significant long-term potential, making local B2B and B2C license acquisition worth pursuing. Another region gaining serious momentum today is Canada. In the near future, authorities are expected to strengthen compliance pressure on offshore casinos targeting the market, seeking to close a gap with a framework similar to the U.S., where even payment institutions cannot serve the market without local authorization. Looking ahead, therefore, Alberta and Ontario are expected to become the next licensing hotspots, attracting a growing wave of license applications. When it comes to underestimated yet highly promising markets, Estonia is arguably one of the most underrated B2C licensing framework businesses overlook. After years in Malta’s shadow, Estonia is now gaining well-deserved recognition as a commercially attractive alternative for mature operators and ambitious startups with clear long-term expansion plans. Historically underestimated, Estonia is now proving too attractive to ignore.
You have repeatedly advocated that the wrong jurisdiction choice can weaken the future growth of business and create lasting operational bottlenecks. What exactly can go wrong, and how severe may the consequences be? Please share examples that best demonstrate the point.
In practice, choosing the wrong gaming jurisdiction can create far more issues than expected; we have seen this repeatedly, and every time it leads to opening Pandora’s box. Before turning to specific examples, however, I must say that a notable share of such cases involves clients who come to us after working with sales-driven consultancies and ending up with solutions that don’t fit their needs. One of our clients turned to us after obtaining an Isle of Man license, confident it would be enough to launch white-label operations across several target jurisdictions. However, the license was not built to serve both purposes together, making the entire process a waste of time and money and prompting them to turn to us for a future-proof structure they can grow with. A more practical example came from a client who pushed hard, almost insisting on getting nothing but a particular license, even though we advised against it because it didn’t align with their business model. Acting in the client’s best interests, our legal experts warned that the chosen license might create difficulties for the project at both the application and post-licensing stages, including requirements that may be difficult to satisfy at this point and potential regulatory gaps. In the end, they chose not to follow our advice and returned 12 months later, once their approach proved unsuccessful, asking if there was still a chance to fix everything. Another example to show the importance of licensing in the long run involved our experts advising a client not to proceed with a particular license. Based on a tailored accessibility assessment, the intended license was unlikely to satisfy the internal risk criteria of their target banks. Despite accepting our recommendation, the client still decided to go for this license independently with another consultancy. When they eventually returned to us for support with opening a corporate bank account, we had to explain that their existing setup wouldn’t meet the banking scrutiny and needs a full restructuring as the only realistic way to remain operational.
It is no longer a secret that crypto is becoming part of the everyday financial system, with gambling being no exception to this shift. How are regulators currently treating crypto-based gambling platforms, and what are the key considerations for operators?
The iGaming sector’s interest in crypto emerged long before 2025. Crypto-focused gambling operators existed throughout the late 2010s; however, industry reports show the strongest boom in crypto wagering during 2021–2022, when it was almost impossible to attend a major iGaming conference without hearing talks about crypto. What has changed in recent years is the growing acceptance of crypto across the entire ecosystem, with players, platforms, B2B vendors, and regulators all embracing digital assets. Previously, most gambling regulators were extremely hesitant to create room for crypto-native business models within their frameworks. Today, these jurisdictions are actively tailoring their rules to attract more crypto-gambling businesses within their borders. In parallel, many crypto payment processors have broadened their risk appetite, now being more flexible toward gambling businesses across multiple licensing regimes. Essentially, the sector enables businesses with a licensed setup to bring crypto into their operations. Amid this environment, one of the key considerations for modern gambling firms integrating crypto payments is to avoid the trap of assuming that digital assets can operate outside standard Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. This approach is fundamentally wrong, as KYC serves as the very first line of defense against unnecessary risks, such as unintentionally facilitating money laundering by processing large crypto transactions without customer checks. The cherry on the cake is the gradual shift in regulatory perception, with many authorities adopting a more open approach to blockchain-based projects, rather than focusing exclusively on traditional RNG-certified gaming models. Taken together, crypto becomes deeply integrated into the gambling ecosystem, with the industry’s treatment of digital assets becoming notably more positive.
You were recently recognized as ‘Gaming Law Expert of the Year’ in the United Arab Emirates. How important is this achievement for your company, and what sets you apart in this market?
Over the years, I have seen very few specialized gambling firms able to match the depth of experience and commitment Inteliumlaw offers to iGaming businesses launching, relocating, or expanding into the UAE. Our law firm is truly one of its kind when it comes to end-to-end support for iGaming businesses in the UAE, helping both B2B and B2C projects grow with legal confidence. With direct local presence in the country, we can assist clients not only with licensing and writing a strong legal opinion on the UAE but also with long-term support of their projects when it comes to facilitating B2B relationships with local providers and going above and beyond in helping them operate sustainably. For us, this award is a strong testament to our expertise in the UAE and our commitment to excellence in delivering high-caliber legal support in the region and beyond. Being recognized as leading experts in a market we are deeply engaged with is a true honor and further inspires us to push the standards of legal service even higher for our esteemed clients.
Looking ahead, where do you see your company’s advisory practice developing next, and what role will you play in helping gambling businesses navigate dynamic regulations?
In the years ahead, our core focus will likely shift toward three areas we find especially promising for gambling operators. As the Emirates continues to attract growing attention from the global iGaming industry, we will continue expanding our capabilities to support the ever-evolving legal needs of traditional and crypto-native gambling businesses in the region. In a market widely regarded as one of the most sought-after in 2026-2027, we will continue to help businesses make the most out of what it has to offer and stay resilient amid any legal complexities. Next, Inteliumlaw is preparing to expand our geographical reach with the Canadian gambling market as yet another promising frontier. Our expansion into Canada is expected to begin with selected provinces, such as Alberta and Ontario, and then gradually broaden our presence as more provinces meet our internal criteria. As Canada becomes one of the fastest-growing gambling markets globally and selected provinces introduce tailored regimes, we aim to support the rising number of businesses seeking to enter this market. Last but not least, our estimates suggest that the U.S. sweepstakes market is set to gain serious momentum among entrepreneurs and investment groups of companies looking for high-growth opportunities. In light of this, we see this area becoming an increasingly important part of our work over the next 1-2 years. In doing all of this, even though we are committed to supporting gambling businesses of all sizes and verticals, we take particular pride in working with highly innovative, non-standard projects that require nuanced legal structuring and a deep understanding of market specifics.