Kalshi has added India to its restricted jurisdictions list, formalising a Kalshi India restriction that had been anticipated since Indian authorities moved against Polymarket in late April. The updated members’ agreement, published Wednesday, now bars Indian residents from the platform across a total of 55 restricted jurisdictions.
The block lands roughly a month after India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued an advisory on 25 April directing internet service providers and VPN operators to block access to prediction market and online betting platforms. That advisory, filed under reference No. 2(6)/2024-CL&DG-Part(1), warned VPN providers that facilitating access to blocked platforms could cost them safe harbour protections under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Polymarket was named directly in the MeitY order. At the time, Kalshi remained accessible in India, but officials had signalled that similar action was coming.
Stablecoin Rails Made Enforcement Harder
A key enforcement challenge MeitY identified was users converting Indian rupees into virtual digital assets to transact on blocked platforms, effectively bypassing the fiat payment blocks, according to Yahoo News reporting on the advisory. That detail explains why India’s regulatory documents have specifically flagged offshore prediction markets that support crypto payments and stablecoin settlement as high-risk services.
Under the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, Indian authorities have classified prediction market platforms as online money gaming services. Platforms that allow users to stake real money on uncertain outcomes can fall within prohibited betting activity regardless of how operators frame their products.
For affected Indian users with existing positions, Kalshi’s help centre confirms that international users can withdraw funds via debit card or cryptocurrency.
Kalshi India Restriction Part of a Widening Global Pattern
India is not the only jurisdiction tightening its grip on prediction markets. In May, Spain blocked both Kalshi and Polymarket for non-compliance with local gambling regulations. Indonesia restricted Polymarket after users traded contracts on whether President Prabowo Subianto would leave office early. Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, and Brazil have all restricted or prohibited access to one or both platforms.
In the United States, the pressure is coming from the states. On 17 June 2026, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed three separate lawsuits in Franklin Circuit Court against Kalshi, Polymarket, and VGW respectively, alleging violations of Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act, the Loss Recovery Act, and existing state gambling law, according to the Courier-Journal. Coinbase was named in the Kalshi suit for allegedly helping bring unlicensed sports betting to users through its platform.
The AG’s office has a clear statistical basis for the sports-betting framing: sports wagering comprised approximately 89% of Kalshi’s contracts’ trading volume in 2025, when the platform processed roughly $23 billion in contract volume, according to the Bitcoin Foundation’s coverage of the lawsuit.
The lawsuits were filed days after a counter-suit from the Coalition for Fair Markets, a group that includes Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Robinhood, which sued Kentucky over a new tax on the prediction market industry. A new Kentucky sports wagering law takes effect 15 July and will bar licensed sportsbooks from contracting with either platform, per Spectrum News 1.
At the federal level, U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation in January to limit political prediction market trading by government officials after a Polymarket user earned more than $400,000 on a contract tied to the potential removal of then Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with lawmakers citing concerns about insider information influencing trades.
Despite the regulatory headwinds, both platforms remain active. Defirate data shows Kalshi recorded $3.7 billion in weekly trading volume, with Polymarket at $3.2 billion over the same period. Sports betting contracts drove the bulk of that activity: Defirate reported daily sports-related trading volume of $328 million on Kalshi and $196 million on Polymarket.
The 15 July Kentucky deadline is the next hard regulatory trigger to watch: whether Kalshi contests that law in court or seeks a licensed sportsbook partner will signal how aggressively the platform plans to defend its U.S. market access.
