Online gambling: grey market (Ecuador)

Online gambling: grey market

Key thesis

In Ecuador, there is no special, full-fledged regulation for online casinos. Therefore, online games (slots, roulette, live casinos) de facto work through offshore sites and applications, which forms a "gray market": users play, but such sites do not have a national license and a local regulator. At the same time, the state purposefully "whitewashed" only sports bets: from July 1, 2024, a 15% gross income tax (GGR) and a mandatory LOPD license (5 years; 655 SBU annually ≈ $307,850 for 2025).

How we came to the "gray" model of online casino

2011: Land casinos closed after nationwide consultation; offline industry dismantled. The state has not created an online "box" (law, regulator, technical standards). The result is offshore access to online casinos without a local license.

2024-2025: the authorities built a separate track for sports betting (15% GGR tax, register, LOPD). By August, 2024 65 companies confirmed their readiness to pay tax - this "whitewashes" only betting, but not online casino.

What is legal and what is not (for autumn 2025)

"In white": national lotteries and sports betting at registered/licensed operators (15% GGR, LOPD).

"Gray zone": online casinos (slots, live games) - without a local license; access is provided by offshore sites/applications. Profile reviews directly attribute Ecuador to jurisdictions where online gambling is a "gray market."

How gray works online in practice

Access: web/mobile applications of offshore brands; part - through localized mirrors. (A typical picture for the "gray" LatAm markets.)

Payments: bank cards, fintech wallets, vouchers; often - mandatory KYC checks by the payment provider, not the national regulator. (A consequence of the lack of a local license.)

Enforcement: the state concentrates on "white" accounting of rates and the fight against the offline underground; the total block of offshore online is technologically and jurisdictionally difficult.

Risks to the user

Weak rights protection: a dispute with an offshore operator is resolved according to its rules; there is no local authority to enforce the payment.

Financial delays and locks: chargebacks, requests for additional verifications from payment systems, withdrawal limits. (Typical risk of gray markets.)

Responsible play (RG): there are no uniform national standards of self-exclusion and limits - it all depends on the policy of a particular offshore site.

Why sports betting is "white" but casinos are not

Political and fiscal choice: in 2024, the state created a simple fiscal contour for betting (15% GGR) and a register of payers (65 companies) - this quickly generates income and is transparently administered.

Online casinos are more difficult "from the box": you need technical standards, certification of providers, supervision of live games, marketing rules and RG architecture. Until such a law is passed, online casinos remain "gray."

Political background 2025: offline casinos - separately

In 2025, a referendum on the point return of offline casinos in 5-hotels is being discussed. The Constitutional Court first rejected the "composite" version of the issue, and then allowed a narrow version (only the 5-casino principle). This applies to ground facilities and does not change the online status quo: a separate law is still needed for online casinos.

Comparison with neighbors (by context)

Peru: in 2024, the rules for the entire online market (games + bets) entered - the model of the "regulated" market.

Colombia: A mature system under Coljuegos with a single tax on GGR.

It is this type of "full box" that transfers online casinos from the "gray" to the "regulated" segment - there is no such thing in Ecuador yet. (Reference context of regional practice.)

What it means for stakeholders

• Use only legal products (lotteries, licensed sports bets), set strict limits, check the verification/payment policy at offshore sites.

• Do not confuse the tracks: betting in Ecuador is already "in white" (tax + LOPD), and online casinos are still "gray." When planning a long-term strategy, track online box initiatives.

• If the goal is to remove demand from offshore, the roadmap is obvious: a separate law for online games, technical certification, RG standards, k-YC/AML, tax formula and supervision, following the example of neighbors.

Online casinos in Ecuador are a "gray market": there is no local license and regulator, players go to offshore sites. Unlike online casinos, the state has already "whitewashed" sports bets (15% GGR, LOPD, register of operators) - but this is a different vertical. As long as the country does not have a "full box" for online games, legal risks and losses of the fiscal base remain; change is possible only through a special law and the introduction of a full-fledged supervision system.