Gibraltar publishes dedicated prediction markets regulation after granting 2 licences

Gibraltar has become the first licensing jurisdiction to put prediction markets under a standalone regulatory framework, after publishing rules on Monday through the Ministry for Justice, Trade and Industry. For PSPs and other high-risk providers, the important bit is simple: this is no longer being treated as a betting side-issue, but as a distinct category with its own authorisation, supervision and control requirements.

1. Minister Nigel Feetham said the framework takes an “activity-based and risk-based approach” to prediction markets, with safeguards covering market manipulation, AML (anti-money laundering), market integrity, participant protection, financial crime prevention, protection of Gibraltar’s reputation, governance, operational resilience and objective settlement.
2. The government also said the framework recognises the role prediction markets can play in aggregating information and facilitating price discovery. In other words, Gibraltar is not just licensing a product; it is defining the mechanics of the product itself.
3. Feetham told iGB that the framework followed “extensive engagement” with industry professionals, prospective operators and investors over recent months. He added that Gibraltar had received “significant interest” from prospective applicants, including some globally recognised businesses.
4. An independent supervisory panel has been established to oversee implementation. Feetham said the authority has experience supervising remote, technology-enabled markets and regulating complex digital environments, which matters because prediction markets sit in the same operational universe as other cross-border, high-control products.
5. Gibraltar already has 2 licences in the pipeline for this vertical. ADI Predictstreet received the first licence in April under a “betting intermediary” licence, before the new Gambling Act was fully brought into force, and US betting marketplace WagerWire is on track to become the second licence holder after receiving approval to launch in June.

Feetham said the new regime is “the first dedicated framework of its kind anywhere in the world.” For high-risk operators and their payment partners, that is the practical signal: Gibraltar is offering a named legal home for prediction markets, with its own statutory category, operational requirements and supervisory framework, instead of forcing them into an older betting wrapper.