LOTBA highlights prediction markets, Polymarket enforcement, at IAGR 2026 in Lima

Buenos Aires City Lottery (LOTBA) used the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) 2026 Annual Conference in Lima, Peru, to make a simple point that matters to high-risk operators and their PSPs: prediction markets are not being treated as a harmless digital side business. The regulator tied the topic to its own enforcement work, including the blocking of Polymarket, and framed it as a control and consumer-protection issue rather than a branding exercise.

1. The conference ran from 19 to 22 October in Lima and brought together regulators, government authorities, and international specialists to discuss the main trends and challenges in gaming. For payment teams, that is the part of the calendar where regulators compare notes on products that sit awkwardly between betting, financial-style contracts, and jurisdictional arbitrage.
2. LOTBA president Jesús Acevedo spoke on the panel “Prediction markets, event contracts and regulatory arbitrage,” focused on the growth of these digital products and the problems they create for control authorities. The session examined the similarities between prediction markets and traditional betting, as well as the risks posed by platforms that offer these services without complying with the regulatory frameworks of the jurisdictions where they operate.
3. Acevedo said LOTBA has been detecting and monitoring platforms that, in the regulator’s view, operate as disguised online betting systems. He specifically referred to the investigation into Polymarket, which ended with the platform being blocked, a measure LOTBA described as unprecedented in Argentina and the region.
4. His warning was operational, not theoretical: when these platforms run outside established control systems, users lose the identity and age verification checks, plus the protection guarantees required by current rules. For PSPs and acquiring teams, that is the kind of gap regulators tend to care about first, because it goes straight to KYC, access controls, and the ability to show that a flow is being supervised.
5. The panel also covered consumer protection, sports integrity, responsible advertising, jurisdictional conflicts, and the regulatory-arbitrage playbook used to sidestep local rules. Acevedo summed up the regulator’s position plainly: “Our responsibility as regulators is to understand those changes and make sure innovation does not leave people’s protection behind.” The session was moderated by Tomás Botta, partner at MF Estudio, and included Paul Brodeur, commissioner of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission; Joe Webster, partner at Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker; and Marc Ellinger, partner at Ellinger-Bell Law.

Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) also held a seminar during the conference highlighting LOTBA’s work on responsible gaming and recognizing Buenos Aires City as one of the region’s most advanced jurisdictions in that area. LOTBA also held working meetings with representatives of the UK Gambling Commission, GLI, and other international bodies.