The UK's Gambling Commission has written to Bitcoin operators because it is concerned about illegal gambling operators providing facilities for gambling to consumers in Great Britain.

In a recent letter, it told operators: "An operator needs to be licensed by the Gambling Commission regardless of where they are located in the world, if they provide facilities for gambling to consumers in Great Britain. We have written to a number of website operators offering prizes of money or money’s worth to gamblers in Britain that are not licensed by us. Bitcoin comes under the category of money’s worth and therefore any operator offering this facility to gamblers in Britain requires an operating licence or they are acting illegally."