The Swedish Government have an online gambling monopoly, which means if you want to place a sports bet or play a few hands of poker your only option is to play at one of the state-run bookmakers, casinos or poker rooms. The Swedes are currently in the process of breaking up this monopoly in favour of licensing multiple private operators. A group called Copenhagen Economics were given the task of outlining proposals on how the country might make this transition. The group is recommending a revenue tax rate of between 15% and 20% on international gambling operators who apply for a Swedish license.
What Sweden haven't factored into this tax rate is the growth of crypto-currency casinos, poker sites and sportsbooks. While the Swedish government may be abel to stop credit card transactions to unlicensed gambling operators, it will be impossible to stop Swedes depositing and withdrawing from their favourite bitcoin casino or bookmaker. Licensed gambling sites in Sweden who are paying up to 20% in revenue tax and also have huge KYC/AML costs will simply not be able to compete with BTC gambling sites when it comes to competitive betting lines, low rake poker and low house edge casino games.
What Sweden haven't factored into this tax rate is the growth of crypto-currency casinos, poker sites and sportsbooks. While the Swedish government may be abel to stop credit card transactions to unlicensed gambling operators, it will be impossible to stop Swedes depositing and withdrawing from their favourite bitcoin casino or bookmaker. Licensed gambling sites in Sweden who are paying up to 20% in revenue tax and also have huge KYC/AML costs will simply not be able to compete with BTC gambling sites when it comes to competitive betting lines, low rake poker and low house edge casino games.