RYKI Unveils Dedicated Service Line to Modernize iGaming Payment Infrastructure

RYKI, a Virtual Asset Service Provider, has launched a specialized service line tailored for the global gaming industry. This new offering aims to help operators integrate virtual assets by providing same-day, cross-border settlement solutions coupled with regulatory-compliant payment services.

The online gaming sector is experiencing substantial growth, with its valuation expected to more than double from approximately $88 billion in 2025 to over $176 billion by the early 2030s, according to Grand View Research. Despite this expansion, RYKI suggests that the industry's current payment infrastructure, largely built for an earlier era, is struggling to keep pace.

Digital asset payments are increasingly prominent within the iGaming landscape. Industry analysts estimate that cryptocurrency-funded wagers now constitute almost 17% of all global iGaming bets, and over 30% of online operators currently facilitate some form of cryptocurrency payment. However, the existing payment systems, which rely on traditional correspondent banking and wire transfers, often result in multi-day settlements, variable foreign-exchange spreads, and banking cut-off delays.

Gaming businesses frequently encounter several payment-related difficulties. These include slow and costly international settlements, with payments via SWIFT potentially taking three to seven days to clear and incurring additional foreign exchange fees. Operators in the Western hemisphere without gaming-friendly partners also face issues like double conversions, where crypto off-ramps settle in euros before requiring a second conversion to dollars, adding further costs. Compliance also presents friction; generic banking relationships often lead to holds or freezes on funds when crypto-linked transactions appear, disrupting operations and tying up capital. Furthermore, many high-value players who hold stablecoins lack a reliable, compliant method to convert these into gaming credit. The burden of manual reconciliation across various events, currencies, and counterparties also contributes to increased operational overheads for finance teams.

RYKI, which has facilitated over $1 billion in trades since its establishment in 2020 and is registered in the British Virgin Islands, developed its new service to directly address these challenges. Lennon Sweeting, CEO of RYKI, commented, "The largest operators are on payment infrastructure that was never designed for how their customers actually behave."

RYKI’s comprehensive service provides casinos, online gaming operators, iGaming platforms, software providers, and conference organizers with a unified approach to accepting stablecoin and other crypto payments. It enables same-day fiat settlement and treasury management across multiple currencies and jurisdictions through a single, globally registered counterparty. The service is structured around four core capabilities: stablecoin payment rails with direct fiat settlement, institutional custody for digital assets, multi-currency treasury management, and gaming-aware compliance with dedicated onboarding support.

As a fully registered VASP with the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, RYKI offers gaming businesses access to regulated crypto payment rails, custody, treasury, and settlement. This regulatory standing allows clients to bypass the complexities of developing in-house crypto infrastructure or depending on traditional banking relationships that can hinder digital asset transactions. Under this model, gaming companies maintain their own operating licenses, while RYKI acts as the compliant digital asset and payment layer.

RYKI's initial engagements highlight the service's efficacy. For a major online gaming operator, RYKI eliminated a structural euro-to-dollar double conversion, reducing trades from two to one and removing recurring spreads. This also shifted settlements from multi-day to same-day and significantly reduced compliance friction. For premium casinos, RYKI developed a crypto credit and settlement system allowing VIPs to use digital assets as gaming credit without forced liquidation, offering on-chain verification in approximately 60 seconds compared to two to five days for traditional banking. The company estimates over $50 billion in crypto holdings among high-net-worth players remain untapped by current venues. In the events sector, RYKI enables gaming conferences to accept stablecoin payments from international exhibitors, replacing multi-day wire transfers with verification in minutes, leading to quicker booth confirmations and reduced payment abandonment.

Sweeting underscored the market need, stating, "What they have lacked is a regulated counterparty that can settle quickly, custody securely and clear compliance without surprises." He added, "Operators... are working with a registered, supervised firm. That is the gap we built this service to close, measurably, and at scale."

The launch of RYKI's dedicated service coincides with a broader market shift driven by evolving technology and regulatory clarity, such as the MiCA framework in the EU. As stablecoins become a prevalent payment method and same-day settlements become an industry expectation, operators without advanced digital asset infrastructure risk losing high-value, crypto-native customers to more agile competitors. The increasing industry preference for working with fully registered VASPs like RYKI, rather than unregulated providers, further signals this transition.