In 2025, Brazil made a big step in changing its gambling market into a regulated and modern one through the launch of online betting and the iGaming framework. However, less than a year after that, the country is even considering a far-reaching policy change that could result in the dismantling of the industry.
This happened after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revealed in an interview that online betting, which his government was promoting, was actually something they did wrong, and it is even possible that it gets banned. In response to these statements, PT deputy Pedro Uczai came up with Bill PL-1808/2026 to cancel the 2025 law and forbid all types of online gambling. The bill bans also gambling-related sponsorship, advertisement and digital transactions, so, as a consequence, it will set Brazil to the pre-legalization state.
Currently, the proposed law has 68 lawmakers of the ruling party as supporters. Uczai acknowledges that online gambling has undoubtedly produced billions in revenue. However, it has also generated many problems that have negatively impacted people’s lives and the country’s economy. He points to some of the evidence, household indebtedness, a state of financial fragility and the increased level of mental illnesses caused by gambling.
According to Uczai’s line of reasoning, if online gambling brings more harms than benefits, then the only reasonable thing to do is to eradicate it completely. Nevertheless, if the government decides that allowing betting to remain legal is beneficial enough for the state, then there is room for adopting a much tighter regulatory system.
That said, nobody within the government’s highest ranks and also at the President Lula level has expressed their support for the proposal, which means that PL‑1808/2026 is a parliamentary proposal only so far. Conversely, gambling specialists are not very certain that Brazil will go back to the point of completely prohibiting gambling. Most of them think that what the government is going to do is to enforce stricter conditions rather than to totally ban the activity.
Passing the law as proposed would probably result in highly charged exchanges between the bill’s supporters and the companies that have made significant investments in the legal betting market. In fact, both the tax offices and major sports organizations have enjoyed sponsorships and new income streams and, hence, will most likely be against any move that eventually leads to the shutdown of the booming betting industry.
Editor-in-chief and creator Cole Smith of casinocurrencies.com, has extensive experience with casino payment systems, The site was created to provide an honest and trustworthy resource for online gambling players.