India has moved to shut down global prediction market platforms from within its borders, with Polymarket — the world’s largest decentralized prediction market — becoming inaccessible for Indian users this week. The enforcement marks a significant escalation in India’s approach to regulating cross-border online prediction and betting platforms, and sends ripple signals across the Asian fintech and crypto landscape.
The outage follows a directive issued on April 25 by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to local VPN service providers. The ministry warned that Indian users were continuing to access “illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms” despite existing domestic prohibitions, and directed internet service providers to terminate access to these platforms. Polymarket was among the primary targets.
CoinDesk first reported that Polymarket’s website now returns a “This site can’t be reached” error for users attempting to access it from India. Refreshing the page does not resolve the connection issue, confirming that the blocking is actively enforced at the network level rather than an isolated service disruption.
While Polymarket — a platform built on US-based blockchain infrastructure that allows users to bet on real-world outcomes from elections and geopolitics to sports and economics — is now blocked, another major player, Kalshi, remains accessible in India for now. However, reports from local media citing anonymous MeitY sources claim the ministry has “already issued a blocking order to Polymarket and are in the process of issuing an order to Kalshi as soon as Friday.”
Kalshi holds a notable distinction: unlike Polymarket, it is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and operates with compliance frameworks that would typically make it a model for regulatory engagement. The prospect of Kalshi also being blocked — even with its regulatory credentials intact — suggests India’s approach extends beyond unregistered platforms to all prediction market operators, regardless of where they hold licenses.
The timing is significant for Asian regulatory dynamics. India’s massive digital economy — with hundreds of millions of smartphone users engaged in both traditional online betting and emerging crypto-adjacent activities — makes it a critical battleground for platform operations. Several other ASEAN nations, including Singapore and Malaysia, have been actively debating how to regulate prediction markets and binary outcome trading, and India’s hard-line approach will likely factor into those deliberations.
Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS) has taken a principles-based regulatory stance on AI applications in financial services, which extends to novel trading instruments. Malaysia’s Securities Commission has explored regulating “betting exchanges” under securities law. Thailand has been developing frameworks for digital asset service providers. India’s blocking of Polymarket signals that at least one major South and Southeast Asian jurisdiction is willing to deploy coercive technical measures rather than engage in negotiated regulatory frameworks.
The broader implications are far-reaching for cross-border fintech regulation in the region. If Kalshi is also blocked, it would demonstrate that India’s prohibition applies broadly to prediction markets regardless of jurisdiction, regulatory status, or compliance posture. For the platforms involved, this creates an uncertain operating environment across the region, where one nation’s enforcement action can signal to others to follow suit.
CoinDesk reached out to both Polymarket and Kalshi for comment at the time of reporting. As of this writing, neither platform has issued a public statement regarding the Indian blocking. The situation is developing rapidly, and the Kalshi blocking order — reportedly imminent as of the original report — could further reshape the regional outlook for prediction market regulation.