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Spain blocks Polymarket and Kalshi over illegal gambling
Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has announced that it has blocked prediction market operators Polymarket and Kalshi, arguing that both offered their services in the country without proper licenses.
The DGOJ stated that the temporary ban will last between 3 and 4 months, which will allow the authorities to conclude their investigation. It was also noted that neither of the platforms had the required authorization to offer their products in Spain, which has raised concerns about compliance and consumer protection.
Spain’s laws classify prediction markets as gambling activities in cases when users trade on future outcomes, and because of this, operators need a gambling license to offer similar products.
The DGOJ wrote in a statement:
“The Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), part of the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and Agenda 2030, has opened disciplinary proceedings against two international prediction market platforms, Polymarket and Kalshi, for violating gambling regulations. The regulatory authority reiterates that Spain, in line with other European jurisdictions, considers prediction markets to be gambling when bets are placed on uncertain future outcomes. Therefore, their operation in Spain requires obtaining a specific administrative license.”
Additionally, the regulator revealed that it had tried to notify the platforms at their foreign business addresses, but the attempts were not successful, after which the announcement was published in Spain’s official state bulletin, the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE).
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