Czech government moves to block Kalshi

Internet service providers (ISPs) in the Czech Republic have less than two weeks to comply with a prohibition order issued against Kalshi. On 30 September, the country’s Ministry of Finance announced that the US prediction markets giant has been added to the list of unauthorised gambling operators. By law, ISPs have 15 days from the date of the prohibition order’s publication to block the affected websites, meaning that users in the Czech Republic will lose conventional access to Kalshi on Thursday, 15 October 2026. Kalshi joins Polymarket in boogeyman status The government’s decision follows a similar prohibition order that took place earlier in July against Polymarket, Kalshi’s main rival. Czech authorities maintain the position that prediction markets are betting offers that market themselves as investment tools – a view shared among many other European regulators such as those of Belgium, France, Romania, Spain, and Germany, among others. SBC News understands that Kalshi’s operations in the Czech Republic were brought forward to authorities by the Czech Institute for Gambling Regulation (IPRH), which represents more than 90% of the regulated gambling sector in the country. Jan Řehola, IPRH Director, said: “When Polymarket was added to the list, we said that it was an important precedent, not the end of the matter. The inclusion of Kalshi shows that this approach is now being reflected in practice. “What matters should not be the name of the product, but its actual substance. If a person puts money at risk on the uncertain outcome of a real-world event, it should not be possible to circumvent the rules simply by calling the bet a contract or a financial instrument.” Lost in translation? Kalshi, Polymarket, and other prediction market operators have generally positioned their event contracts as financial instruments rather than gambling in the US, operating under a federal-level regulatory oversight by the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC). However, as mentioned above, things are much more nuanced over in Europe where a number of jurisdictions have outright called them a gambling product, therefore blocking access to them until they obtain the relevant gambling licence. This has become a tricky situation for prediction markets, which have remained adamant that what they offer cannot be constituted as gambling. There is a potential third route into Europe, namely through the adoption of dedicated regulatory frameworks that solely cover prediction markets – something that Gibraltar has already successfully implemented, making it the first country in the world to do so. However, this still remains the exception rather than the rule, most certainly across Europe where regulatory sentiments towards prediction markets have been predominantly hostile. To hammer its point across, IPRH added that such emerging products cannot circumvent existing rules around player protection and market supervision simply by using different terminology – closely echoing a recently published statement by The European Lotteries on prediction markets and their marketing strategy. Kalshi still looks set on Europe Still, prediction markets are certainly not going anywhere, at least not in the foreseeable future. Kalshi alone saw trading activity worth around $60bn (£45.3bn) just last month, according to DeFi Rate. It is now seeking fresh capital to reach an eye-watering valuation of approximately $40bn. This week’s SBC Summit Lisbon also welcomed Kalshi’s Chief Risk Officer, Udesh Jha, on stage. He noted that Kalshi “would love to expand in Europe”. Suffice to say, there is a real demand for prediction markets, at least on a very big piece of paper. In the words of Andrew Lyman, Gibraltar’s Gambling Commissioner: “If you are in denial and you want to ban or block, then you are fighting against the tide of consumers who really want this product. Therefore it’s much better to regulate…” SBC News has reached out to IPRH for a comment on whether the regulated Czech gambling sector sees itself as being “in denial”.