The Ministry of Finance has added the American prediction platform Kalshi to the list of prohibited online gambling games, so internet providers in Czechia are to block it.
The Ministry of Finance has added the prediction platform Kalshi to the list of prohibited online gambling games. The decision was pointed out by the Institut pro regulaci hazardních her (IPRH). Since the listing, internet access providers in Czechia are to prevent users from reaching the domain Kalshi.com; according to Lupa, the service was already unavailable, for example, on Vodafone's fixed connection.[1][2]
The platform
Kalshi is based in New York and allows users to place bets on the outcomes of real-world events, for example decisions on interest rates, temperature levels, film viewership or election results. Operators of prediction platforms describe their offering as financial instruments; Czech legislation regards it as gambling bets.[1][2]
According to the IPRH, contracts worth about 59.2 billion US dollars were traded on Kalshi in September 2026, about 48 percent more than in August, and the platform accounted for more than 80 percent of the volume of the major prediction platforms monitored. From the beginning of 2026 to the end of September its traded volume reached, according to the institute, about 238.8 billion dollars.[1]
Position of the IPRH
The IPRH said that Polymarket is not an isolated case and that a number of similar platforms operate on the international market. According to the institute, it is necessary to assess continuously whether their offering meets the features of a prohibited gambling game under Czech law, and new digital products cannot circumvent the rules on player protection, the prevention of money laundering or market supervision merely by using different terminology.[1]
The director of the institute, Jan Řehola, described the listing of Kalshi as proof that the approach applied to Polymarket is really being put into practice, and said that the substance of the product, not its name, is to be decisive.[2]
Polymarket
Another prediction platform, Polymarket, was added to the list by the ministry in the summer of 2026; Echo24 gives July. Polymarket is also described as illegal gambling by other states. According to Echo24, besides Czechia, for example Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain have moved to block it or restrict access to it.[1][2]
Chronology
- — The Ministry of Finance placed the prediction platform Kalshi on the list of prohibited online gambling games, so internet providers in Czechia are to block it. Lupa.cz Echo24