Brazil has blocked access to prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, escalating a regulatory crackdown. Officials cite concerns that these platforms operate as illegal betting operations.
Finance Minister Dario Durigan announced Friday that the telecom regulator Anatel shut down 27 prediction market platforms, concluding they violated new betting rules approved by Congress. Kalshi and Polymarket’s websites were inaccessible in Brazil.
This action aligns with a new National Monetary Council rule that restricts derivatives to economic and financial benchmarks. Contracts related to sports, politics, elections, and other events are now excluded from this framework.
Brazil’s Finance Ministry stated that prediction markets, which involve users taking positions on future outcomes, overlap with fixed odds betting. Economic reforms secretary Regis Dudena noted that while presented as financial products, they function like betting.
The decision positions Brazil among global regulators grappling with the classification of prediction markets. Brazil's regulated online betting market, launched in January 2025, currently permits only fixed odds betting tied to real-world sports and online games.