Brazil Moves to Block Prediction Market Platforms
Posted on: April 27, 2026, 02:38h.
Last updated on: April 28, 2026, 06:11h.
- Government argues that prediction markets too closely resemble betting, and are competing with the regulated igaming market
- Brazil’s regulated online igaming market launched Jan. 1, 2025
- iGaming market generated $7 billion in gross gaming revenue in its first year of operations
Brazil is banning prediction markets, tightening rules to protect its regulated iGaming sector from what officials call unregulated “bet-like” products.
Polymarket and Kalshi Shut Down
Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel pulled the plug on 27 platforms Friday, taking giants like Polymarket, Fanatics Markets, and Kalshi offline, according to reports from Reuters.
The Finance Ministry directive follows a government ruling that prediction markets are illegal and operate outside the country’s gambling framework.
Finance Minister Dario Durigan said the National Monetary Council tightened the wording around what underlying assets can be used in derivatives trading. Contracts linked to sports events, politics, electoral, cultural and social outcomes are now banned.
The council only allows derivative contracts tied to economic indicators, carried out by an authorized firm complying with the law. Those derivative contracts include interest rates, inflation, exchange rates, and commodity prices.
An Unregulated Betting Market
In the end, the Brazilian government determined that prediction markets were attempting to position themselves as financial products selling derivatives. In fact, though, those platforms more closely resemble gambling.
A government spokesperson said on Reuters that with the move the government was aiming to avoid the creation of a new, unregulated betting market that was competing with regulated operators.
“At a time when we are working to reduce debt levels among families, small businesses, and students, we must also prevent new forms of harmful indebtedness,” said Durigan in a news conference Friday.
Brazil’s regulated iGaming and sports betting market launched on January 1, 2025, with local regulators awarding licenses to a number of operators.
One of the World’s Largest Markets
Brazil has the largest economy in Latin America and is Top 10 in terms of the largest economies in the world.
The regulated Brazilian igaming market closed its first year generating approximately $7 billion in gross gaming revenue from licensed operators. That makes it one of the world’s largest igaming markets.
In the U.S., there are currently legal battles across the country between federal regulators and individual states over access to prediction markets. Companies like Polymarket have been generating billions of dollars in trading volume in the U.S.
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