Regulators kept the pressure on prediction markets this week, with state sweeps and criminal probes closing in on the sector's biggest players.

Nevada secured an injunction against Polymarket to complete a clean sweep against the largest platforms, while South Korea opened its first criminal probe of individual users over election bets. Enforcement tightened elsewhere too, as the UK's BGC sounded the alarm over a ballooning black market and France and Malta braced for a World Cup betting surge. Meanwhile, a star college quarterback won a court fight against the NCAA's lifetime gambling ban, and Argentina advanced a bill to criminalise unlicensed operators.

Let's dive into this week's Regulation Roundup!

Prediction Markets

• Nevada secures Polymarket preliminary injunction, completing state sweep against the largest prediction markets.
  
  Carson City Judge Jason Woodbury granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board's request for a preliminary injunction against QCX LLC, operating as Polymarket US, with the ruling disclosed on June 1 and detailed in coverage through the week. The order blocks Polymarket from offering event contracts to Nevadans without a state gaming licence and follows similar action against Kalshi, Coinbase Financial Markets and Crypto.com. Gaming Control Board Chair Mike Dreitzer described the decision as the most decisive state enforcement against the sector to date and signalled further action under existing Nevada law.

• South Korea launches first criminal probe of Polymarket users following bets on June 3 municipal elections.
  
  The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of Gangwon Provincial Police, acting at the request of the National Police Agency, has summoned domestic Polymarket users as suspects after tracing crypto exchange transfers to the platform. Reporting through the week confirmed investigators are issuing additional summonses based on transfer volume and frequency, with users facing fines of up to ten million won under Article 246 of the Criminal Act and up to three years imprisonment for habitual gambling. The action makes Korea the latest jurisdiction after Indonesia, Singapore, Spain and Brazil to treat decentralised prediction markets 

Enforcement and Compliance

• UK Betting and Gaming Council unveils five-point plan as black market staking forecast hits £33 billion.
  
  The BGC published a five-point action plan on June 8 calling for social media platforms to be liable for removing illegal gambling content, expanded Gambling Commission powers to block unlicensed sites and apps, payment processor obligations, meaningful penalties for service-side enablers and tougher criminal sanctions on operators of illegal sites. The intervention follows independent forecasts that UK black market stakes could rise from 17 billion pounds in 2025 to more than 33 billion by 2028, with almost one in every five pounds staked online flowing to unlicensed operators within three years. The plan complements the new DCMS Illegal Gambling Taskforce and the 26 million pound Treasury enforcement programme.

• France's ANJ launches Zone à risques campaign and Malta's MGA orders heightened vigilance ahead of FIFA World Cup.
  
  France's gambling regulator opened its national Zone à risques public awareness campaign on June 3, reframing the legal disclaimer on gambling adverts as hazard tape after polling showed 41 percent of French World Cup viewers plan to wager, up five points from 2022. Malta's MGA then issued a formal notice to all licensees on June 8 demanding heightened vigilance and timely reporting of suspicious betting through the Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism, with sports integrity points of contact required and full alignment with FIFA's integrity programme. Both moves reinforce a Europe-wide tightening that already covers Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

• Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby wins preliminary injunction against NCAA in college sports betting case.
  
  On June 8, Texas Judge Ken Curry granted Sorsby a preliminary injunction preventing the NCAA from enforcing the lifetime gambling ban it had imposed for roughly 90,000 dollars in wagering on professional and college sports across four years, including bets on his own Indiana team as a freshman. Sorsby will sit out the first two games of the 2026 season as part of the conditions and must continue gambling-disorder treatment, but is otherwise eligible to play. The NCAA filed an immediate appeal and warned that the ruling threatens to destabilise its enforcement model at exactly the moment state regulators in Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere have opened parallel probes.

Tax and Legislative Changes

• UK Gambling Commission and CAP launch AI-powered content marketing sweep targeting child-appealing ads.
  
  An advisory issued to operators on June 4 confirmed that the Commission and the Committee of Advertising Practice will launch an AI-driven Active Ad Monitoring System from June 11, sweeping social media for licensed operator content with strong appeal to under-18 audiences. Operators identified as non-compliant will be required to amend or remove content immediately, with referrals to host platforms and the Commission available where breaches persist. The sweep follows the regulator's earlier proactive review of Meta-platform content covering August 2025 to March 2026 and is the most public application yet of AI to UK gambling marketing supervision.

• Argentina's Milei online gambling reform bill heads to Senate committee review, targeting illegal operators and underage play.
  
  Coverage during the week confirmed the Prevention of Gambling Addiction and Regulation of Online Gambling Bill is under combined review at the Senate's General Legislation, Health, and Justice and Criminal Affairs committees. The text would criminalise the operation of unlicensed platforms with prison sentences of three to six years through a new Article 301 ter of the Criminal Code, prohibit financial institutions, payment service providers and virtual asset providers from serving illegal operators, and place problem gambling prevention under the Health Ministry through Sedronar. The proposal forms part of a wider provincial and federal push to tighten controls on online sports betting in Argentina.

Advertisement - Hub88

A new age of iGaming Integration is here:

• Full supplier catalogue with free bet support & jackpot tools
• End-to-end onboarding in just a few minutes
• An easy and efficient payments platform

Integrate with the leading game aggregation solution at hub88.io

Did we miss something?

• If we missed something, join our discord community to let us know for next time.
• Join our discord community here: https://discord.gg/tanzanite