Brazil has enacted a sweeping ban on prediction market platforms, blocking access to major operators including Polymarket and Kalshi. The move, announced on April 24, 2026, by Finance Minister Dario Durigan, targets around 28 platforms and is part of a broader effort to address risks linked to online gambling and protect household savings.
“We have advocated for stricter enforcement and very rigorous regulation, which will continue to advance, so that we can curb the negative externalities and social harm that unregulated gambling causes to the Brazilian population,” Durigan said. Chief of Staff Miriam Belchior added that the measure aims to “protect income, prevent financial losses, and reduce families' exposure to unsafe practices.”
The Banco Central do Brasil issued a formal resolution prohibiting derivatives contracts whose underlying assets are not tied to economic or financial benchmarks. This includes contracts based on sports events, virtual gaming, political outcomes, and other non-economic benchmarks. The resolution places prediction markets outside the scope of permissible financial derivatives, aligning them more closely with gambling activity.
According to Reuters, both Polymarket and Kalshi were inaccessible in Brazil as of Friday afternoon, April 24. A local researcher confirmed enforcement is active at the access level rather than limited to regulatory guidance.
Brazil’s crackdown reflects mounting global pressure on prediction markets. Polymarket is already blocked in more than 30 jurisdictions, including France, Belgium, Australia, the UK, Italy, Poland, and Singapore. In some regions, bans apply only to political markets or specific event categories. On the same day, Wisconsin filed lawsuits against Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket, and Crypto.com, alleging their sports event contracts violate the state's commercial gambling ban. In contrast, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has adopted a more permissive stance, allowing Kalshi to offer certain event contracts, highlighting a fragmented global regulatory landscape.
