Polymarket, the world’s largest decentralized prediction market, has become inaccessible to users in India, with reports suggesting that rival platform Kalshi could be next in line for regulatory action.

Users attempting to visit Polymarket are now met with a “This site can’t be reached” error, and repeated refresh attempts have failed to restore access, pointing to a likely network-level restriction rather than a technical outage.

The disruption follows an April 25 advisory from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which directed VPN service providers to block access to “illegal and blocked prediction market and online betting platforms.” The advisory said users were still managing to bypass existing restrictions despite domestic prohibitions.

Following this directive, internet service providers were instructed to restrict access to prediction markets, with Polymarket reportedly among the primary platforms targeted.

Kalshi, a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated prediction market, remains accessible in India for now. However, local media reports citing a MeitY source indicate that authorities have already issued a blocking order against Polymarket and may soon extend similar measures to Kalshi.

Prediction markets enable users to trade on the outcomes of real-world events, including elections, economic indicators, and policy decisions. The sector gained widespread attention during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, where it became a popular tool for speculation and hedging risk.

In India, such platforms are classified as online money gaming and fall under restrictions outlined in the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, effectively banning their operation in the country.

The government has maintained a strict regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies and related digital asset services, focusing on oversight and capital controls. India also imposes a 30% tax on crypto gains and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on transactions, measures that have significantly reduced trading activity domestically.

Regulatory scrutiny has further increased through Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) requirements enforced by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This tightening framework has pushed several crypto firms to relocate to more favorable jurisdictions such as Dubai and Singapore.

Meanwhile, India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance recently held discussions in Delhi with major crypto exchanges, including Binance, WazirX, and ZebPay, on May 20 to review taxation and regulatory issues within the virtual digital assets (VDA) sector.

The committee also raised concerns over substantial capital outflows linked to crypto activity from India.