Hong Kong Eyes Basketball Betting Legalization, Could Crypto Betting Follow? 

Hong Kong regulators are considering the legalization of basketball betting to help plug the country’s budget deficit.

Reports suggest that, given basketball’s popularity in the country, the black market, including crypto sportsbooks, is a multi-billion industry. Estimates suggest around HK $52.5 billion in bets were placed on basketball, comprising 15 percent of the underground market.

State-Run Monopoly Seeks to Capture Black Market Betting Revenue

The Hong Kong Jockey Club holds a monopoly on legalized sports betting in Hong Kong but only offers betting on horse racing, football, and the Mark Six lottery. Should basketball be brought under the legalized umbrella, it will follow the same model.

Winfriend Engelbrecht-Bresges, CEO of Hong Kong Jockey Club, said the body would support the legalization. He also estimates that up to 60 percent of bettors who engage in illicit basketball betting could convert to legal channels should it be legalized. This is estimated to be no less than 90 of the 150,000 bettors.

Advocates for legalized basketball betting suggest it could generate up to HK $52 billion annually in turnover, thus contributing tax revenue in excess of HK $1.5 billion. Although the budget deficit stands at HK $100 billion, this would make a small yet significant dent. Given the 50 percent state betting duty, gambling tax revenue already generates approximately HK $13 billion a year just from football betting and horse racing.

The proposed broadening of gambling legalization in Hong Kong has faced opposition from Finance Secretary Paul Chan, who voiced concerns over the potential impact on youth gambling. Given the precedent set by the country’s legalization of football betting in 2003, this is unlikely to be too significant a hurdle.

Lessons from Macau: Can Hong Kong Replicate Basketball Betting Success?

A further success story is that of Macau, which generated MOP 2.3 billion in bets in 2024 from basketball alone. Sands China has also recently signed a five-year partnership with the National Basketball Association that will see two preseason games head to Macau annually, something that is expected to further drive interest in the sport across the Asian continent.

Should the country decide to proceed with legalization, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has estimated that it will need an infrastructure investment of between HK $1.5 billion and HK $2.5 billion to set up operations. The legalization procedure could take up to 18 months, similar to that of football when it was passed.

First, the Government of Hong Kong has planned a six-month public consultation in which lawmakers, business leaders, and gambling-harm experts are all expected to contribute.

HK Asia Holdings’ Bitcoin Purchase Sparks Interest in Crypto Payments

It’s clear that cryptocurrency is popular in Hong Kong, after shareholder reaction to investment firm HK Asia Holdings Limited purchasing its first bitcoin, the share price doubled.

The firm announced that it increased its Bitcoin holdings to nearly 9 BTC in total, just a week after its first digital currency purchase. The company said in an announcement that the board had “approved the Company to further increase its investment in Bitcoin.”

Given the state-owned monopoly in gambling, the most likely avenue for crypto gambling expansion would come through the HKJC accepting crypto as a payment method.