About this app
What is Diamond Blitz?
Last month the UK Gambling Commission agreed a regulatory settlement with Evolution of £4.75 million, after finding its games had been accessible via a handful of unlicensed operators in the UK.
In July the Commission said its investigation had discovered the supplier had failed to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and customer due diligence controls in the UK.
It considered suspending Evolution’s licence, but the supplier acted swiftly, carrying out ring-fencing controls across Europe to prevent its games from being used in grey markets.
What is Diamond Blitz?
Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.
During a session of the House Audit Committee last Thursday, members of parliament (MPs), the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission and the National Betting Authority (NBA) convened to discuss ways to identify and restrict gambling activity among GMI beneficiaries, as reported by Cyprus Mail.
While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.
About Diamond Blitz
“The Ministry of Finance reaffirms its determination to drive the reform of the gambling and games of chance sector in accordance with government directives, while upholding legal certainty for operators, transparency in activities and the protection of the Public Treasury’s interests,” said the press release, signed by Alain Malata Kafunda, the chief of staff to the DRC minister of finance.
The press release also warned operators against complying with any payment requests from departments that aren’t legally authorised to do so.
It called for any such acts to be reported immediately to the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate General of Administrative, Judicial, State Property and Equity Revenues (DGRAD).
