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From gambling addiction to black market intelligence: the story behind Trace2Trace

By jili tutorial · September 18, 2026

From Personal Struggle to Professional Mission: How One Man’s Addiction Sparked a Black Market Intelligence Tool

Introduction: A Story of Addiction, Recovery, and Innovation

Jesper Kampmann Madsen, a 35-year-old Danish-born entrepreneur now based in London, is not your typical tech founder. His company, Trace2Trace, builds technology that maps the networks behind illegal gambling. But what sets him apart is that his motivation comes from a deeply personal source—his own gambling addiction. In an exclusive interview with iGB, Madsen recounts how a teenage hobby spiraled into a destructive compulsion, and how that experience eventually led him to create a unique intelligence tool that helps regulators and operators see beyond individual websites and into the hidden infrastructure of the black market.

This guide expands on Madsen’s journey, the technology behind Trace2Trace, the scale of illegal gambling, and the broader implications for enforcement. Whether you’re a compliance professional, a policymaker, or simply curious about the intersection of addiction and tech, this article provides a deep dive into a growing crisis—and an innovative response.

The Path to Addiction: A Teenager’s Gambling Habit

Early Wins and a False Sense of Control

Madsen began gambling as a teenager, treating it as harmless entertainment. For several years, he gambled occasionally, without serious consequences. Then, in his early twenties, he hit a major win on a foreign unlicensed gambling site: approximately €22,000. But the site could not pay out the full amount immediately. “I remember gambling all of it back the same day,” he recalls. That single event fundamentally altered his relationship with gambling. “That jackpot was really the beginning of my gambling addiction,” he says.

The Vicious Cycle of Illegal Sites

What made the addiction worse was the constant exposure to illegal gambling websites. Unlike regulated operators, these sites often offer high-stakes games, instant access, and limited consumer protections. Madsen describes a cycle that grew increasingly extreme: “At one point, I had only a few thousand euros left to gamble with, but then I won €180,000 in a single day. The next day I lost it all again. The day after that I won €150,000—and lost that too.” It was at that moment he realized he had lost control. “I thought to myself: This has gone too far.”

Seeking Help and Taking Back Control

Madsen eventually sought help. His parents supported him, even taking over his finances for a time. “It was embarrassing, but it was necessary,” he says. This humbling experience sparked a desire to help others avoid the same trap—and to fight the illegal operators that had fueled his addiction.

From Recovery to Prevention: The Birth of Spilfri.nu

A Free Blocking and Support Service

Drawing on his technical background, Madsen created Spilfri.nu, a service designed to block gambling sites and provide support for people experiencing gambling problems. The service is free for users, while supporters (such as family members or friends) can pay a monthly fee to monitor progress. It also extends to schools and educational institutions that want to ensure students are not tempted by gambling during study time.

Expanding the Mission: Identifying Illegal Operators

But Madsen soon realized that blocking individual sites was not enough. “You can try to stop gambling, but then you go onto foreign gambling sites and crypto casinos and they keep appearing,” he explains. He observed regulators shutting down one illegal gambling site, only to have mirror sites, cloned domains, and replacement URLs emerge in its place. The problem, he concluded, was not merely the website itself—it was the network behind it.

The Birth of Trace2Trace: Mapping the Illegal Network

From Domain Lists to Deep Intelligence

Madsen’s work with Spilfri.nu gave him access to a growing dataset of known gambling domains. He began asking: “Why not use the dataset I already have on gambling sites to map the most problematic ones, identify how they are connected, and build a deeper picture of the networks behind them?” That question led to the creation of Trace2Trace.

What Trace2Trace Does

Trace2Trace is not a site-blocking tool. Instead, it acts as a search engine that continuously crawls websites to detect connections between domains. The system starts with domains already identified by authorities (e.g., blacklisted sites). It then crawls them, looking for technical similarities such as:

The Role of AI: Evidence-Based Findings

Machine learning plays a role, but only at the final stage of analysis. First, the system gathers objective indicators; then AI assesses the overall pattern and probability of a connection. Madsen emphasizes: “We only provide evidence-based findings. We don’t say that something is a mirror site because we suspect it is. It is only reported when we are 100% confident there is a match.” This rigorous approach ensures that the intelligence Trace2Trace delivers is actionable and reliable.

How Trace2Trace Works: A Technical Deep Dive

The Data Pipeline: 7,000 New Domains Per Day

Trace2Trace’s underlying dataset has already grown to around 620,000 domains—and it continues to expand. “We receive around 7,000 domains a day on average through the lists we monitor, including new and cloned sites,” Madsen explains. These domains come from regulatory blacklists, industry reports, user reports, and proactive crawling.

Following the Redirection Chain

One of the most critical features is the ability to follow redirection chains. A website might initially appear to be a normal local-language site, while behind it sits an iframe, a JavaScript redirect, or a chain of other pages leading to the actual gambling destination. “You have to follow that chain,” Madsen says. In some cases, a site may redirect ten times before reaching the final gambling interface. Trace2Trace automates this process, uncovering hidden connections that a simple web request would miss.

Case Study: Mapping a Global Brand

Madsen shares an example: an investigation into a globally renowned operator (name undisclosed). An initial scan identified about 1,600 associated domains. After deeper analysis, the count rose to roughly 4,500 more—total around 6,000 domains. Yet Madsen believes this is only a fraction of the full network. “I’m almost certain the real number is at least twice as high.” This illustrates the scale of domain multiplication used by illegal operators to evade enforcement.

The Scale of the Illegal Gambling Market

Conflicting Estimates: A Billion-Dollar Problem

The illegal gambling market is massive, but its exact size is notoriously difficult to measure. A report from Fincord Intelligence (highlighted by the Betting and Gaming Council) estimated that illegal online gambling generated around $50 billion in gross revenue globally in 2025, with roughly 5,000 operator structures using more than 15,000 websites and apps.

Other estimates are far higher. Gaming Compliance International put the value of unregulated online gambling at $5.9 trillion in wagering value in 2025, with unregulated operators accounting for 78% of global online gaming GGR. A separate report commissioned by Euromat estimated that Europe’s black market has sustained a compound annual growth rate of 18% between 2019 and 2026, and will be worth up to €13 billion by the end of the year.

Why the Estimates Differ So Widely

The discrepancy highlights the challenge: illegal operators deliberately obscure their activities. They use multiple jurisdictions, cryptocurrency, shell companies, and rapidly changing domain structures. “The black market is not a single entity—it’s a fragmented, constantly shifting ecosystem,” Madsen notes.

The Role of Offshore Operators

Euromat’s report also noted that a core group of 25 offshore operators are generating up to 64% of European traffic to the black market. This concentration makes the mapping of networks especially valuable: if you can identify the 25 key operators, you can target a large portion of the problem.

Intelligence for Regulators and Operators

Two Sides of the Same Problem

Trace2Trace’s intelligence can be used by different stakeholders:

Beyond Domain Blocking: A Broader Enforcement Strategy

Madsen is realistic about the limits of enforcement. “No, you can’t defeat illegal gambling entirely, but you can make it very difficult for them.” Domain blocking remains important, but regulators are increasingly looking at payments, advertising, affiliate networks, and cross-jurisdictional cooperation. For example, pirate sports streaming often drives traffic toward illegal gambling sites; targeting those streams can cut the pipeline. Turkey’s regulator, meanwhile, has been aggressively confronting large-scale unlicensed activity.

Trace2Trace fits into this broader strategy: instead of playing whack-a-mole with individual URLs, it provides the intelligence needed to see the entire network and dismantle it piece by piece.

The Future of Enforcement: Making Life Harder for Bad Actors

A Shifting Philosophy

The illegal gambling market is becoming more fragmented and technically sophisticated. As it does, the intelligence behind enforcement becomes more critical. Madsen’s philosophy: “If they knew there was a tool that would find those new sites as well, they might become more cautious.” By increasing the cost of evasion—forcing operators to change more domains, infrastructure, and redirect chains more frequently—such tools can reduce the profitability of illegal operations.

The Personal Mission Continues

For Madsen, the work is not just business; it’s personal. He knows from experience how difficult it is to escape gambling when access remains readily available. “I’m trying to address every stage: prevention, support for people who are already struggling, and then action against the illegal sites.” He does not believe illegal gambling can be eliminated, but he believes it can be made harder to operate. That may be the most realistic goal for companies like Trace2Trace: not replacing regulators, but providing the intelligence needed to see beyond the individual URL.

Conclusion: A Tool, Not a Silver Bullet

The story of Trace2Trace is a testament to how personal adversity can drive technological innovation. From a gambling addiction that nearly destroyed him, Jesper Kampmann Madsen built a service that helps others escape the same trap—and a data-driven intelligence platform that gives regulators and operators a fighting chance against the black market.

As the illegal gambling ecosystem continues to evolve, tools like Trace2Trace will become increasingly important. They don’t promise a world without illegal gambling, but they do promise a world where the bad actors have to work harder, move faster, and leave fewer footprints. And for Madsen, that’s a mission worth pursuing.