Gibraltar launches dedicated prediction market regulation framework under Gambling Act 2025

Gibraltar’s Ministry for Justice, Trade and Industry has published a new framework that treats prediction markets as a separate regulated category, with its own authorisation and compliance rules. For PSPs and operators, the point is simple: this is now a jurisdiction with a specific rulebook for event contracts, not a grey area with a gambling licence bolted on as an afterthought.

1. Published in the Government Gazette today, the framework sits under the Gambling Act 2025 and creates a distinct category for prediction platforms. An independent supervisory panel with experience in remote and digital markets will oversee implementation.
2. Minister for Justice Nigel Feetham said the government wants to “regulate innovation responsibly by providing a clear regulatory framework for operators.” He also said the focus is “not on labels,” but on effective supervision, market integrity, transparency, participant protection and financial crime prevention.
3. Under the new regime, Gibraltar will “shortly license the first prediction market operator,” and it has already granted an Approval in Principle to a second operator. The jurisdiction expects to issue another Approval in Principle in the coming weeks.
4. The second operator is presumably Wire Industries Inc, the parent company of WagerWire, which said last month that it had received an approval in principle. Co-founder Travis Geiger said the company plans to launch both B2B and B2C products by the NFL preseason and international football kick-off in August.
5. The 24-page framework requires all event contracts to be certified by a dedicated supervisory authority, comparable to the Gambling Commissioner for Gibraltar’s regulated gambling market. Contracts must be clear, objectively settlable, not readily susceptible to manipulation, and consistent with the regulatory objectives.

For high-risk payments teams, the practical detail is in the compliance language: operators must have systems to prevent insider dealing, misuse of confidential information, and market manipulation, while the regulator retains discretion to block contracts it sees as contrary to the public interest, including those linked to criminal activity, terrorism, war, or serious injury.