The Rise of Offshore Sportsbooks (1995–2018)

The **Rise of Offshore Sportsbooks (1995–2018)** describes the migration of US sports betting demand to Caribbean and Central American jurisdictions in response to the internet boom and the federal prohibitions of **PASPA**. **Key phases include:** * **The Antiguan License (1990s):** The first formal attempt to regulate online betting, led by pioneers like **WSEX** who treated betting as a financial market. * **The Costa Rican Hub:** A shift toward a "data processing" model that avoided regulation entirely, fostering a massive ecosystem of **"Post-Up"** shops (direct deposit) and **Pay-Per-Head** services (infrastructure for local bookies). * **The UIGEA Shock (2006):** US legislation choked off traditional banking channels, forcing public companies to exit the US while private "grey market" operators turned to **transaction laundering** (miscoding credit card charges). * **The Crypto Solution:** By the 2010s, the friction of moving fiat currency led offshore books to become early adopters of **Bitcoin**, which offered irreversible, censorship-resistant settlements. This era established the technological template for modern sports betting but operated without consumer protections, ending its monopoly when the US legalized sports betting in 2018.