{"id":777038108,"date":"2026-02-17T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777038108"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:20:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:20:03","slug":"new-zealand-sees-prediction-markets-as-illegal-gambling-platforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/new-zealand-sees-prediction-markets-as-illegal-gambling-platforms","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand sees prediction markets as illegal gambling platforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Internal Affairs says sites such as Polymarket and Kalshi come under national gambling rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

New Zealand.- The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs has said that prediction market platforms, including Polymarket and Kalshi, are illegal under the country\u2019s existing gambling legislation. It said it considers users of such platforms to be engaging in gambling rather than trading financial instruments, meaning that any operator not authorised under New Zealand law is prohibited from offering the products to residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gambling director Vicki Scott said platforms taking bets from New Zealand customers would be in breach of the law and could face regulatory action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prediction markets allow users to speculate on the outcomes of future events, ranging from sports results to political and economic developments. Despite operating as peer-to-peer trading platforms and framing offerings as event-based derivatives, the DIA concluded that their core function aligns with gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DIA indicated it intends to formally notify Polymarket and Kalshi of its position, although neither platform actively markets to New Zealand users or pre-populates registration details for the country. However, they were not geoblocking their sites, meaning the services were technically accessible. Kalshi has added New Zealand to its list of blocked jurisdictions following the regulatory clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the current legal framework, online wagering in New Zealand is limited to the state-backed TAB platform, which operates under a monopoly arrangement following Entain\u2019s takeover of its day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, online casinos are expected to be formally regulated through forthcoming legislation, with 15 licences set to be auctioned once the Online Casino Gambling Bill progresses through Parliament<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand\u2019s stance mirrors recent developments in neighbouring Australia<\/a>, where the communications regulator concluded that prediction markets constitute gambling activity and ordered internet service providers to block access to certain platforms. Regulators in both jurisdictions argue that the services do not function as traditional financial risk-management tools or investments, but rather as speculative wagering on future outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> ACMA blocks 8 more illegal gambling sites<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Internal Affairs says sites such as Polymarket and Kalshi come under national gambling rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777026996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs has classified prediction market platforms, including Polymarket and Kalshi, as illegal under existing gambling legislation, deeming their offerings as gambling rather than financial instruments. This regulatory clarification prohibits unauthorized operators from offering such products to New Zealand residents, prompting Kalshi to implement geo-blocking. The decision aligns with similar actions in Australia and precedes forthcoming legislation to regulate online casinos in New Zealand.","focusai_entities":"Department of Internal Affairs, Polymarket, Kalshi, Vicki Scott, TAB, Entain, ACMA","focusai_location":"New Zealand, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Precedent Impact","query":"How might New Zealand's classification of prediction markets as gambling influence regulatory approaches in other jurisdictions considering similar novel wagering products or financial instruments?"},{"label":"Online Casino Licensing Frameworks","query":"What specific governance frameworks, responsible gambling provisions, and market entry criteria are anticipated for the 15 online casino licenses to be auctioned under New Zealand's forthcoming legislation?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156],"tags":[338,25125,337],"class_list":["post-777038108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-prediction-market","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777038108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777038108"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777038108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777038113,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777038108\/revisions\/777038113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777026996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777038108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777038108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777038108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}