Armenia is not the jurisdiction that usually comes up in discussions of global iGaming hubs. Compared with Malta, Curaçao and Gibraltar, Armenia, by contrast, has largely flown under the radar. Yet its market structure is increasingly difficult to ignore: a near-free-for-all B2B environment sitting alongside one of the most expensive and tightly controlled B2C regimes in the region.
As Mesrop Manukyan, founding partner at MBLegal – a leading Armenian law firm that services the iGaming industry, puts it: “The market is characterised by a strong and growing B2B presence, alongside a smaller, tightly regulated B2C segment.”
The defining feature of Armenia’s iGaming ecosystem is not what is regulated, but what is not. For B2B operators, there is no licensing framework at all. Companies are not required to obtain gaming-specific approvals, and instead operate under general corporate and banking compliance rules, primarily AML and KYC.
“This means barriers to entry are minimal,” says Manukyan. In effect, Armenia has created one of the lowest-friction environments in the industry for gaming-related service providers.
The result has been a steady inflow of international firms using Armenia as an operational base. Some already hold licences in jurisdictions such as Curaçao, one of the oldest offshore gambling licensing hubs, or Anjouan – a more recent emerging licensing jurisdiction – but have opted for Armenia for back-office functions, software development, risk management or payments architecture. Others are fully headquartered there, benefiting from cost efficiency and regulatory simplicity.
Over the past year alone, more than 20 companies have relocated to the country, some with workforces of 1,000-1,500 employees. For a small economy, that shift is material. According to the World Bank, Armenia’s GDP stood at roughly $26 billion in 2024, meaning iGaming-linked services now represent a visible economic force rather than a niche segment.
This growth is reinforced by a strong domestic technology base. According to the OECD, information and communication technology already accounts for 4.5% of GDP, and local reporting suggests Armenia’s broader high-tech sector exceeded $3.1 billion in output in 2024. The gaming industry is increasingly embedded within that ecosystem.
Dominated by a few giants
The contrast with the B2C side could hardly be sharper. Operators targeting Armenian players face a licensing system that is deliberately restrictive and expensive.
The annual licence fee is approximately $1.5 million, following a doubling from around $750,000 in early 2025. The licence is indefinite, but depends on continued payment and compliance. Additional taxation applies, including gross gaming revenue-linked elements and broader corporate obligations.
In practice, this has created a heavily consolidated domestic market. “We haven’t really seen many smaller operators in the B2C space,” Manukyan notes. The cost of entry has ensured that only large, well-capitalised firms can participate.
Today, there are around five licensed B2C operators in total. Despite their small number, they are economically significant: four or five consistently rank among Armenia’s top 10 taxpayers, says Manukyan, highlighting the sector’s disproportionate fiscal importance.
Two companies dominate the B2C landscape: BetConstruct and Digitain. BetConstruct’s parent company, SoftConstruct, reports more than 6,000 employees, 16 branch offices and over 300 partner organisations globally. Digitain, meanwhile, employs more than 5,000 people and operates across 20+ licensed markets worldwide, with over 150 partners. These firms are not just local champions, they are global suppliers, and their scale explains much of Armenia’s visibility in the iGaming supply chain, even if the jurisdiction itself remains relatively unknown.
Friction beneath the surface
The scale of Armenia’s gambling economy becomes clearer when looking at overall figures, although these must be interpreted carefully.
Parliamentary discussions have indicated that gambling turnover rose from AMD14 billion in 2010 (approximately $35-$36 million) to AMD6.3 trillion in 2023 (around $16 billion). In 2024 alone, more than AMD811 billion (about $2 billion) was reportedly deposited into online casino accounts.
These figures reflect turnover and player deposits rather than operator profit, but they underline a rapid expansion in activity.
Despite its regulatory attractiveness for B2B firms, Armenia’s ecosystem is not frictionless. The most consistent criticism relates to financial infrastructure.
Payment processing costs remain high compared with established hubs such as Malta, while integration options are limited. “The infrastructure for integrating payment systems is not as flexible or customisable as operators would like,” says Manukyan. As a result, many companies open bank accounts abroad to achieve operational flexibility.
The banking sector also plays a central gatekeeping role. AML enforcement is strict, particularly at the onboarding stage. Opening accounts can be difficult, especially for foreign-owned gaming companies. While this raises operational barriers, it also serves a filtering function, reducing exposure to illicit operators.
Crypto opens a new door
One of the most notable recent shifts has been in cryptocurrency regulation. Historically, the Central Bank took a conservative stance, limiting adoption in gaming-related use cases.
That position has changed. Since January, Armenia has introduced a crypto licensing regime. Demand has been immediate. “In the past three months alone, we’ve applied for six crypto licences, four of which were for gaming companies,” says Manukyan. He explains that the shift coincides with a broader change in regulatory tone, driven in part by new leadership at the Central Bank, which appears more open to innovation than its predecessor.
While B2B remains largely unregulated, the state is moving in the opposite direction on oversight of gambling activity itself.
Recent legislative developments point to one of the more ambitious monitoring proposals in Europe. A centralised system will track every bet in real time across both online and land-based gambling. A single national operator will manage the platform under a long-term contract, with authorities gaining direct access to data on bets, wins and losses.
The rationale is both fiscal and social. Officials are seeking stronger tax enforcement and greater visibility over an industry linked to an estimated 2%-3% gambling addiction rate.
However, the proposals have sparked debate. Critics warn that efforts to limit court challenges to the system could reduce judicial oversight, even as the government prioritises rapid implementation.
Regional role and external interest
Despite its small size, Armenia is in effect already functioning as a regional hub, says Manukyan. Local operators have expanded into neighbouring markets including Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia.
“At the same time, international interest is increasing. Companies from the Philippines, China, Mexico and Brazil are exploring entry, often viewing Armenian licensing or presence as a reputational signal as much as an operational base.”
Manukyan also expects further inflows, including operators relocating due to regulatory tightening elsewhere.
A ‘wild west’ in transition
For all its growth, Armenia’s market retains early-stage characteristics. Parts of the ecosystem remain informal, with uneven levels of expertise and occasional reliance on inexperienced advisory structures.
Manukyan describes this as an inevitable phase.
“It’s still somewhat of a ‘wild west’ environment in that sense, but this should improve over time as the market matures,” he says. How long that phase will last is an open question.
A hub defined by contradiction
Armenia’s appeal lies in its contradictions. It combines one of the least regulated B2B environments in iGaming with one of the most expensive and tightly controlled B2C markets. It remains highly accessible to global service providers, while simultaneously moving towards a more centralised, data-driven model of oversight.
Whether that balance holds will depend on how the state resolves a growing set of tensions: between revenue and regulation, openness and control, innovation and oversight.
For now, the model appears to be working – at least for B2B operators. As Manukyan notes, Armenia is “arguably one of the best jurisdictions available” for B2B gaming services.
And in a global industry constantly in search of the best possible operational base, Armenia’s unusual formula is already difficult to ignore.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/igaming/is-armenia-becoming-igaming-industry-unusual-hub/
