MiCA and crypto payments in iGaming: what regulated rails mean for operators, with Payhound

Payhound, a crypto payments provider, holds a MiCA CASP license, and its team says that has changed what operators ask them for. David Kicks, a founder of Payhound, and Peter Woodfine, its head of sales, spoke on iGaming Daily by SBC Media at SBC Summit in Lisbon about crypto payments and treasury for iGaming operators.

In this episode

• Kicks says Payhound achieved its MiCA CASP license in November 2025, well ahead of the new MiCA rules being hard enforced on July 1, 2026 (1:59).

• Woodfine says a lot of competitors were unsuccessful in getting accredited, which gave Payhound conversations it would not have had 18 months ago (9:57).

• Kicks says a business sitting on USDC can take a payment in seconds from anywhere, while card settlement can be T plus two, five or seven in certain geos (4:04).

• Woodfine calls crypto a necessity because of speed, so the sale is now about offering the right service rather than whether operators need crypto (11:01).

• He says affiliate payouts to media owners, for example in Asia, can happen same day or in under an hour instead of 5 days plus (11:57).

• On pricing, Woodfine says unlicensed routes can give better pricing but cause problems, and Payhound's business is probably 50/50 between B2C payments and B2B treasury services (14:12).

Episode from iGaming Daily by SBC Media, published on YouTube.