Is Polymarket Legal in the UK? Kalshi, Polymarket and the Gambling Commission

In Great Britain, a prediction market that takes bets on sports, politics or other non-financial events needs a licence from the Gambling Commission, and neither Kalshi nor Polymarket has one. The government said so in February 2026, and the Commission told unlicensed operators to stop targeting or transacting with people in Great Britain.

The venues' own documents point the same way. Kalshi's member agreement lists the United Kingdom among the places where trading its event contracts is restricted. Polymarket's developer documentation makes polymarket.com close-only for the UK, and its help page calls the UK completely restricted. Polymarket US is built for US residents.

Great Britain is not the whole United Kingdom. The Gambling Act 2005 and the Commission's licensing cover England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has its own, older gambling law and no online licensing regime.

Download table figures:CSVJSON with sources

On 4 February 2026 the Gambling Commission wrote that the prediction-market model it has seen appears to be a betting intermediary, which needs a Commission licence to offer gambling in Great Britain. Its message to existing operators was direct: "Current prediction market operators who are not licensed in Great Britain should take steps to ensure they are not targeting or transacting with consumers in Great Britain."

The government has given the same answer in Parliament since. On 16 February a Lords written answer said that "in order to operate in Great Britain, any prediction market would require a licence from the Gambling Commission" and would be classed as a betting intermediary. On 26 October the latest answer said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is monitoring prediction markets with the Commission and will update if more action is needed.

The Commission's public register, searched on 30 October 2026, has no entry for Kalshi, KalshiEX, Polymarket, Blockratize, Adventure One, QCX or Polymarket US. The licensing route is in use by others: the register shows a pending application for a remote real-event betting licence from IG View Limited, a firm with a prediction-markets trading name.

Contracts on financial outcomes can fall within the Financial Conduct Authority's perimeter instead, as spread bets on financial markets do. The FCA's October 2026 feedback statement says binary options remain banned for retail customers, and that it will keep its framework under review as products develop that exploit gambling-like behaviour; it does not mention prediction markets by name.

An FCA site search on 30 October found no Warning List entry for Kalshi or Polymarket. The FCA's diary records a meeting between Polymarket and its chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, on 19 June 2026. A meeting is not an authorisation.

Section 361 of the Gambling Act 2005 extends only two of its sections to Northern Ireland. Gambling there is governed by the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, amended by the Assembly in 2022, which has no licensing regime for online gambling.

The Assembly's own researchers described the position in January 2025: "in the absence of specific Northern Ireland-based legislation on online/remote gaming and gambling there is still no additional, Northern Ireland-specific, licensing and regulatory measures". That gap is not a permission. Both venues' documents treat the United Kingdom as a whole, Northern Ireland included.

• Kalshi - Its own agreement restricts trading its event contracts from the UK, and it holds no Gambling Commission licence.
• polymarket.com - Its documents allow at most closing positions from the UK, and the Commission has told unlicensed prediction markets not to transact with people in Great Britain. Polymarket's help page says using a VPN to get around location limits breaks its terms.
• Polymarket US - It is built for US residents and does not describe a UK service.
• Licensed alternatives - Betting on events in Great Britain is lawful with an operator the Commission licenses; the public register lists them.

The Commission's blog post, its register and office page, the Gambling Act, the Northern Ireland Order, the Assembly research paper, the parliamentary answers, the FCA's statement, site search and diary, and the venue documents were read on 30 October 2026. The Commission's own site search did not work, so a later Commission statement may be missing. Vultax did not test access from the UK.

This page describes legal documents; it is not legal advice. Challenge a line at [email protected].