Spain blocks Polymarket and Kalshi while it investigates gambling licences

Polymarket/Polymarket exchange

Spain's Ministry of Consumer Rights blocked access to Polymarket and Kalshi while it investigated whether they operate without a Spanish gambling licence, as Spanish law requires. The investigation was expected to last three to four months.

• Spain temporarily barred platforms citing lack of required gambling licences under Spanish law
• Spain follows France (2024), Belgium, Poland, Italy and other EU jurisdictions treating prediction markets as gambling
• Wider regulatory scrutiny: India issued formal blocking order in May; Brazil and Indonesia issued bans in recent weeks