Finland Opens Its Market in 2027 — Affiliates Are Already Wrestling with the Crypto Question

Finland is facing the biggest gambling reform since the state monopoly was introduced in 1937. The current system around monopolist Veikkaus will be abandoned on January 1, 2027, in favor of a licensing model along Swedish lines. Operators such as Kindred, LeoVegas, Betsson, and Entain are already jockeying for market share, and the affiliate industry is bracing for fierce competition. Trade magazine iGaming Expert reported on June 4, 2026, on the central point of contention: how strictly will Finland regulate crypto payments in licensed casinos?

Unlike Germany (which de facto rules out crypto via § 4 ZAG), Finland has not yet communicated a clear line. The current bill, debated in the Eduskunta (Finnish parliament) since March 2026, generally permits stablecoin payments through licensed Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) under the EU's MiCA regulation. Volatile coins such as Bitcoin or Ether, however, are to be used only indirectly — via on-the-fly conversion into euros by the CASP. Operators such as BC.Game, Stake, or Vavada, who grew up in the crypto world, would have to substantially adjust their business model for Finland.

For affiliates this creates a tracking problem: anyone promoting crypto casinos will probably lose, from 2027 onwards, the ability to cleanly attribute conversions in Finland — CASP-mediated stablecoin payments are converted to euros and appear differently in affiliate postback systems than on-chain transactions. Income Access, MyAffiliates, and Cellxpert are, according to iGaming Expert, already working on adapted postback schemas that can represent MiCA-compliant stablecoin flows. The Finnish supervisor Lupahallinto is also planning a central reporting system into which all operators must feed their affiliate commissions — similar to the Swedish Spelinspektionen model.

From a German perspective the Finnish debate is relevant for two reasons. First: within the EU, Germany is one of the strictest in excluding crypto from regulated gambling. The GGL clarified in its January 2025 announcement that direct acceptance of crypto assets by licensed operators is impermissible — players must deposit in euros via licensed payment service providers. Should Finland opt for a more liberal stablecoin approach, a clear regulatory split would emerge within the EU, with potential political follow-on effects.

Second: the Swedish Spelinspektionen published a study in May 2026 showing that 18% of Swedish online-casino players migrate to unlicensed crypto casinos as soon as they hit limits at licensed operators. The Swedish industry is now calling for liberalization itself — and Finland is watching that debate closely. For German players this means pressure to reform the €1,000 LUGAS limit could rise noticeably in 2027/2028 if Northern European markets experiment with alternative protection models.

Affiliate platforms such as Catena Media (already running five brand sites in Finland) and Better Collective are retooling their Finnish sub-brands toward crypto education. We spoke with three German affiliate managers, who all confirmed: anyone planning to enter Finland in 2027 must decide by Q4/2026 whether they continue running crypto content on their DACH sites — and accept the risk of being warned by the GGL as a black-market advertising intermediary. Goldenstein Rechtsanwälte already initiated 14 such proceedings against German affiliates in 2025, four resulting in successful cease-and-desist undertakings.

For the German end user the recommendation stays unchanged: play exclusively at GGL-licensed casinos, deposit via SOFORT/Giropay, Trustly, PayPal, or bank transfer. Crypto casinos — no matter how big their marketing budget — remain illegal in Germany. What Finland does from 2027 onward is interesting for the industry, but does not change the German legal situation. We will keep an eye on the Finnish reform and report in detail as soon as the Eduskunta makes its final call after the summer recess.