Spain orders block on Kalshi and Polymarket amid regulatory probe
The Spanish gambling regulator will investigate whether prediction platforms breach the country’s legislation.
Spain.- Kalshi and Polymarket face the prospect of losing another market. Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has ordered a temporary block on the prediction platforms pending a regulatory investigation.
As published in the state gazette on Tuesday, Spain’s gambling regulator, the DGOJ, will examine whether the platforms breached national legislation by failing to secure gambling licences allowing them to offer betting services. The suspension is expected to remain in place through the duration of the investigation, which the DGOJ estimates will last three to four months. That means the block will cover the entire period of the FIFA World Cup, which starts next month.
Prediction markets have risen in popularity most notably in the US, where traditional betting operators are limited to sports only, rather than politics and other fields, and several states still lack regulated sports betting. The platforms don’t function as bookmakers themselves but facilitate betting by allowing participants to trade contracts tied to future events, with prices shifting to reflect perceived probabilities.
Spanish authorities, in line with most other European regulators, classify this as a gambling service since wagers are placed on uncertain outcomes. Companies like Kalshi and Polymarket often try to argue that they offer a financial product, although they have also used language associated with gambling and betting in marketing materials.
Gibraltar recently became the first European territory to license a prediction platform, granting Predict Street a gambling licence under existing regulation.
The DGOJ said that unlicensed operators do not meet Spain’s technical and regulatory standards, which include identity checks, safeguards for minors and self-excluded individuals, and systems designed to protect consumers.
The move comes after the DGOJ last week opened a public consultation on proposals to amend Spain’s Gambling Regulation Act. The reforms put forward are intended to strengthen controls, improve prevention and provide more tools to combat illegal gambling.
The updates include measures intended to address the regulation of the presence of celebrities or influencers in gambling advertising, which the ministry previously sought to tackle via royal decree. The amendments also deal with customer acquisition promotions, and organic search engine advertising, with the goal of ensuring that gambling operators’ advertising pages only appear if the searches themselves are directly related to betting. The consultation will remain open until June 22.
