Brazil has given itself a powerful new tool against illegal betting. On Friday 19 June 2026, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Decree No. 13,033, which allows the authorities to freeze and ultimately confiscate money held in the accounts of unlicensed betting operators. For players, the headline point is simple: the fight against illegal betting has shifted from blocking websites to going after the money itself, and that changes the risks of using a site that does not hold a Brazilian licence.

What has happened?

Decree No. 13,033 regulates Article 21-A of Brazil’s fixed-odds betting law, a provision added earlier this year through the country’s Anti-Faction Law. It gives the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), the regulator inside the Finance Ministry, a defined role in identifying operators that work without authorisation and in triggering restrictions on their accounts.

The secretariat can act after market monitoring, a substantiated complaint, or information pointing to electronic fraud. Once it issues a blocking notice, banks, payment institutions and payment system operators must act within 24 hours and stop any new transactions that could keep the unlicensed business running. They then have a further 48 hours to confirm to the secretariat that they have complied. Brazil’s Central Bank is notified of every order and supervises the process, and it has 90 days alongside the secretariat to build a secure electronic notification system.

This is enforcement aimed at payment flows rather than web addresses. According to the Finance Ministry, Brazil has already asked the telecoms regulator Anatel to block close to 50,000 illegal betting sites since 2025, along with around 350 linked operators. Cutting off the money is the next step.

Why the illegal betting clampdown matters for players

The decree is squarely aimed at operators, not at individual players. Even so, anyone depositing at an unlicensed site is now closer to the line of fire. If the regulator flags an operator and its accounts are frozen, deposits and withdrawals running through those accounts can stall with little warning. Account holders are not told before a restriction takes effect, although they must be informed afterwards and given the basis for the decision and their rights to respond.

There is one reassuring detail in the text. The decree states that forfeiture cannot override amounts owed to bettors, so players’ balances are meant to rank ahead of the government’s claim on seized funds. That is a protection on paper. In practice, recovering money from an operator caught up in an administrative and court process could be slow and uncertain, which is exactly the situation that using a properly licensed and safe casino is meant to avoid.

What it means for payments and withdrawals

Brazil’s licensed market is still young and large parts of play sit outside it. Official estimates suggest that somewhere between 41 and 51 per cent of betting in the country still runs through unlicensed channels. As of June 2026 there are 78 licensed operators running 138 brands, so there is a clear, regulated alternative for players who want certainty over their deposits and payouts. If reliable cashouts matter to you, our guide to fast payout casinos explains what to look for.

A second measure published in the same week, Ordinance No. 1,766/2026, adds pressure from another direction. It opens the door to joint liability for banks, payment providers and advertisers over unpaid taxes linked to unlicensed betting. The aim is to make payment processors think twice before handling money for sites that operate outside the rules. For players, the likely effect over time is that unlicensed sites find it harder to offer reliable deposits and withdrawals at all.

What players should watch next

The freeze is a precautionary step, not a final penalty. The National Public Security Secretariat has to open a forfeiture process and give operators 15 days to defend themselves, and the Attorney General’s Office must take the matter to court before any money is permanently confiscated. Confirmed proceeds are earmarked for the National Public Security Fund to fight organised crime.

The wider direction of travel is worth noting. Lula has spoken in favour of a return to a nationwide ban on online betting, while accepting that Congress would have to approve any such reversal, and in April the government blocked 27 prediction-market platforms. Players in Brazil should expect enforcement to keep tightening, and should assume that the convenience of an unlicensed site can come with sudden payment disruption.

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The practical takeaway is to check that any site you use holds a current Brazilian licence before depositing, and to keep records of your transactions. Licensing exists precisely so that your money is not exposed to enforcement action aimed at someone else. If you are weighing up your options, our coverage of responsible gambling tools and the developing Brazil casino market is a useful starting point, and our wider casino reviews focus on licensing and payment reliability. The clear lesson from Decree No. 13,033 is that the cost of playing outside the licensed system is rising, and it is now measured in frozen accounts rather than just blocked links.