The Brazilian government announced on Friday that it has ordered the blocking of 27 online prediction market platforms. According to Minister of Finance Dario Durigan, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has already taken these sites offline.
These online services allow users to bet money on predictions about entertainment, politics, cultural topics, or social events. In a press conference at the Planalto Palace, the federal government explained that the service is not covered by existing legislation and is illegal.
“We have been monitoring the evolution of this sector in Brazil, which went through a period of anarchy because there were no rules, no oversight from 2018 to 2022,” Durigan said. “The conclusion reached by the Ministry of Finance, together with other ministries of President Lula’s government, is that prediction markets are not legal and are not regulated in Brazil.”
The blocking order was based on a resolution approved by the National Monetary Council (CMN) that aims to close a regulatory gap and establish clearer rules for this type of activity. Durigan stated that the decision is intended to protect household savings and prevent further indebtedness among the population.
“At a time when we are making efforts to reduce the debt level of Brazilian families, small businesses, rural farmers, and students, we also prevent, through the announcement the president will make about the debt program, that people take on new debt, for example, in this kind of market, which is bad debt that harms people’s hope and quality of life,” he said.
A prediction market works like a betting exchange on future events. People buy and sell financial contracts based on simple yes-or-no questions such as “Will this happen or not?” If the event occurs, the bettor earns money. If not, they lose. These contracts are called derivatives in finance jargon.
“We will not have weather forecasts or the death of a certain celebrity being treated as a regular derivative in Brazil,” Durigan gave as an example.
According to him, Brazilian law regulating betting only allows bets on real sports events and online games with defined rules. Since these prediction market platforms did not comply with the online betting law, they operated in the financial market by selling derivatives without financial backing. Now they are banned under the CMN resolution.
Chief of Staff Minister Miriam Belchior added: “The measure aims to prevent the consolidation of a new betting market, the so-called prediction market, from becoming established without control. From our point of view, if that happened, it would cause enormous risks for the Brazilian population.”
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