Yolo prepares to fully withdraw from grey markets, announces 280 person lay off

The mega gaming company Yolo Group is exiting its activities in unregulated markets and laying off 280 employees in Estonia.

The group announced it has decided to continue operating only in fully regulated and licensed markets in order to remain competitive in the rapidly changing gambling industry.

“To maintain a very clear focus and complete transparency across all processes, we are consolidating our activities under the single Yolo brand and will focus solely on regulated markets going forward,” Yolo Group board member Maarja Pärt said.

After the layoffs of 280 employees, more than 600 people will remain working at the group’s companies in Estonia. The company also runs offices in Malta, the UK and Australia. 

As part of its restructuring, Lara Falzon was announced as its Chief Executive Officer of its B2B brands in July. 

Ms Falzon is the second high profile C-suite hire for Yolo Group in 2025, following the appointment of Jean Claude Magri to Chief Financial Officer.

 Within the group, the Estonian-licensed gambling company will continue offering online gambling services under its main brand, while its e-wallet service will operate under the Yolowallet brand.

The Yolo Group is also in the final stages of securing two UAE B2B Vendor licences and is accelerating its strategic shift to a single regulated brand: Yolo.com. 

“We believed in crypto before most people even understood it, and we believed gaming could be fun, fast and fair in ways the industry hadn’t yet imagined,” Yolo CEO Tim Heath explained.

And while the framework in Curaçao allowed them to scale and innovate with brands like Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino.io, the CEO said explained that the brand is at a crossroad.

“It has become abundantly clear that domestic regulators who are offering licenses are not keen on other group operations continuing to operate in pre-regulated markets,” a post read.

“In other words, you cannot be white and grey; you have to pick a side. This means a crossroads has been reached, and a decision must be made. Do we go left or do we go right? Throughout our history at Yolo, we have always tried to do the right thing, which usually doesn’t mean the easier route – but in this case, the choice, albeit difficult, was relatively clear for us.”

“That’s why we’ve decided it’s time for our next chapter: to bring the best of what we’ve built into Tier-1 regulated markets. This isn’t about walking away from the past. It’s about taking everything we’ve learned, everything we’ve pioneered, and applying it in environments where operators, regulators and players can work together, creating a stronger and more sustainable ecosystem for everyone.”

Their future strategy centres on a single, unified and Tier 1 licensed brand: Yolo.com.

Some of the world’s largest crypto sportsbooks, sportsbet.io and  Bitcasino.io are regarded as some of the dominant players in grey market crypto betting. Sportsbet.io’s monthly turnover alone is estimated at more than $3.3 billion. 

Like rivals Stake and Shuffle, Yolo was built by an Australian entrepreneur. Mr Heath has transformed the group into a billion-dollar enterprise employing over 1,000 people. These businesses continue to operate and thrive in jurisdictions without clear rules around online betting.

Yolo Group is an IT company operating in the fields of online gaming, fintech, blockchain, and venture capital. Yolo Group was established in Tallinn in 2014 by Tim Heath. Originally called Coingaming Group, it focused on cryptocurrency-based games. In 2021, the company changed its name to Yolo Group to reflect its broader range of operations beyond gaming.