Brazil’s betting ban has more time. Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394, which outlawed fixed-odds betting and online casino games from 25 September 2026, was due to lapse on 23 November unless Congress voted on it. It will not lapse then. The President of Congress, Senator Davi Alcolumbre, signed Act No. 118 of 2026, extending the measure’s validity by 60 days, and it appeared in the Official Gazette on 11 November, according to the Senate news agency. The Congress record for the measure now gives 4 March 2027 as the final date.
Why March and not January
A provisional measure has the force of law from the day it is published, but it dies unless both houses convert it within 60 days, plus one extension of another 60. The clock stops during the parliamentary recess. By our count, the first window ran 60 days to 23 November. The extension then uses 29 days up to 22 December, pauses for the 41-day recess from 23 December to 1 February, and uses the last 31 days from 2 February to 4 March. That is 161 calendar days from publication to deadline.
A committee that has not met
Before either house can vote, a joint committee of deputies and senators must issue an opinion on the text. Congress named that committee on 30 September. As of the record’s 12 November update, its status is still “awaiting installation”, which means no chair and no rapporteur. The only formal request filed with it so far came on 5 November from Deputy Capitão Alden (PL), who asked for the government’s preparatory documents and for officials to be invited to explain the ban.
The measure has also been in urgency mode since 9 November, its 46th day, under the official calendar. Under Congress rules that status locks the voting agenda of the house where the measure sits. Alcolumbre’s act extended two other provisional measures on the same day, while five lapsed without a vote, a reminder that running out the clock is a normal outcome in Brasilia.
What the 99 amendments show
Legislators filed 99 amendments by the 13 October deadline, which was pushed back past the general election. Five were withdrawn on 14 October, leaving 94. Our count of the author list in the Congress record finds 25 legislators behind the 99, with two of them, Capitão Alden (PL) and Senator Sargento Reginauro (PSDB), filing 17 each. By party as listed, PL filed 24, PSDB 22, PP 18 and MDB 12. Deputies filed 67 and senators 32. The texts pull both ways. Some would keep a ban on online casino but allow sports betting, as one from Senator Dr. Hiran (PP) does. Others add enforcement, such as Senator Alessandro Vieira’s (MDB) proposals on fines and funding.
Key facts
Measure: MP 1.394/2026, published 25 September 2026 (Official Gazette, extra edition).
Extension: Act of the President of Congress No. 118/2026, 60 days; published 11 November.
Final date: 4 March 2027, per the Congress record.
Committee: named 30 September; not installed as of 12 November.
Amendments: 99 filed, 5 withdrawn, 94 remaining.
Public poll: the Senate’s e-Cidadania page showed 539,974 votes for the measure and 81,838 against on 12 November. It is an opt-in web vote, not a survey.
Courts: all lower-court challenges paused by the Supreme Court since 8 November (our report).
Why it matters for GambleFi
The extension keeps Brazil’s licensed market dark through the end of 2026 at least, with no court route left and no committee work under way. Government allies back the measure in public; on 11 November Senator Humberto Costa (PT) cited Health Ministry figures of 28 million people betting in the past 12 months. Every extra month of a ban leaves Brazilian players with only unlicensed sites, crypto casinos among them, and gives the government more reason to block them. Our posts on the Supreme Court hearing, the challenges filed after Lula’s win and player refunds cover the rest of the picture.
For iGaming tokens, the GambleFi coins tied to onchain casinos, Brazil remains a market no platform can serve legally right now. Holders should not read the delay as a reopening. This is a news summary, not legal or investment advice. The GambleFi FAQ explains how crypto casinos and iGaming tokens are regulated.