Bangladesh’s unlicensed gambling market grew 11x in four years

Bangladesh is preparing to scrap a gambling act that is now 159 years old. Blask data shows the market dynamics in the absence of a proper regulatory framework.

Bangladesh’s Public Gambling Act was published on December 31, 1867. It was created under British colonial rule to restrict gambling houses and hold those involved accountable. The law says nothing about mobile apps, offshore platforms, or transactions through bKash, Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial services provider.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed announced on May 24, 2026 that the government is preparing a replacement for the old law to be submitted to parliament in the next session. The draft fully covers online gambling, establishes jurisdiction over platforms hosted abroad, and introduces penalties designed for digital-scale operations. Blask data shows what grew in its absence.

Four years of unchecked growth, then enforcement pressure

The chart shows a market with a strong upward trend, interrupted by recurring seasonal pullbacks, mostly around late spring and early summer.

Then came the reversal: in early 2026, Blask Index fell by 28% over four months. Monthly CEB moved down more moderately, from $123.5M to $119M, a 3.6% decline.

The timing coincides with the government’s most intensive enforcement push. In July 2025, the Criminal Investigation Department launched its first nationwide operation under the Cyber Security Ordinance 2025. 

By May 2026, CID had identified 116 gambling websites for blocking, dismantled a ring that was estimated to be earning $163K per day, and sent data on more than 5K financial accounts to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit for further action. The development of new regulation for the iGaming sector became a logical continuation of that campaign.

Top brands and market size

Market leadership in Bangladesh is held by brands already embedded in the local user environment. 

• Jaya9 ranks first by BAP with an 11.88% share and is up 43.72% year-over-year.
• Baji ranks second with 11.26% BAP and the highest CEB among the leaders at $166.49M.

At the same time, enforcement pressure is visible in short-term dynamics. All top-20 brands recorded negative MoM growth in April 2026.

International brands are losing positions: JeetBuzz, JeetWin, 1xBet, and BetVisa are down year-over-year. At the same time, brands more closely tied to the local context and payment infrastructure are growing:

• Nagad88 gained 62.82% YoY, 
• Banglabet 793.1 YoY%, 
• Takabet 328.7% YoY, 
• R777 175.8% YoY, 
• Darazplay 142.8% YoY. 

For a market without a licensing framework, this is already a full-scale offshore economy that the new law will need to channel.

What the data says about reform

Bangladesh has already strengthened enforcement, but these measures still run into an outdated legal base. The 1867 law prohibited gambling, but it did not give authorities a clear mechanism to act against platforms hosted abroad. 

Cyber Security Ordinance 2025 partly closed that gap: Section 20 introduced criminal penalties of up to two years in prison, and CID began using those tools immediately after the campaign started. After that, demand fell by 28% from its January peak. But the market grew 11x while enforcement lacked the proper legal mandate.