Gibraltar Pitches Itself as Europe's Home for Prediction Markets at First European Summit

^{Ocean Village Marina in Gibraltar, where Europe's first prediction markets summit was held this week. (Photo: Cabeza2000 / Wikimedia Commons)}

Gibraltar used Europe's first prediction markets summit this week to court an industry that most of its neighbours are trying to keep out. The territory has authorised two prediction market operators so far, with more applications in the pipeline, and says its regulatory regime is already working in practice.

Prediction Markets Summit Europe, organised by Eventus International, was held at Ocean Village on 9 and 10 November. Nigel Feetham, Gibraltar's minister for justice, trade and industry, opened proceedings. Delegates included lawyers, compliance specialists and regulators from the territory and from Denmark.

The Rules Gibraltar Wrote

The Prediction Market Regulations 2026 came into force on 13 July, made under the Gambling Act 2025. They require anyone operating a prediction market in or from Gibraltar to hold a separate prediction market authorisation, which the regulations say is not a gambling licence under the Act.

The regulations also state that prediction market activity carried on in line with them is a distinct activity and is not treated as betting, gaming or a lottery solely because of its characteristics. Operators face rules on market integrity, client money, anti-money laundering and digital asset payments.

Predict Street was the first operator licensed, in the spring, under the earlier Gambling Act 2005. Gibraltar's gambling commissioner, Andrew Lyman, has since said a second authorisation has been granted and that a limited number of other applications are being assessed.

What Gibraltar's Officials Said

Speaking with iGaming Business at the summit, Lyman said: "Gibraltar has already moved from the theoretical to the practical application of a regulatory regime." He added that the value of a Gibraltar licence is that it provides "a well regulated home for the PM vertical".

In his opening address, Feetham called the framework a "substantial opportunity" and said Gibraltar would proceed "with ambition, but also discipline", according to the Gibraltar Chronicle's report of the speech. He said the territory does not want to compete by lowering standards and wants to protect its reputation.

Feetham also cautioned operators against assuming that a Gibraltar authorisation lets them offer their products in other countries. That warning lands as regulators elsewhere in Europe take a harder line, a debate that European Lotteries has already joined by calling for coherent rules on prediction markets.

A Quiet Guest List

The line-up said as much about the industry's mood as the rules did. Polymarket and Kalshi, the two American prediction market giants, were not among the speakers, and neither was Predict Street. The programme was instead made up largely of lawyers, compliance consultants, start-ups and harm-reduction groups including BetBlocker, the Ethical Gambling Forum and the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming.

A speaker from Denmark's gambling regulator, Spillemyndigheden, was also listed. Casino Guardian reported that regulators from nine European countries signed a joint declaration in June to act against unauthorised prediction market platforms, which sets the backdrop for Gibraltar's pitch.

The debate is also playing out in the United States, where prediction markets and new products were the focus of a summit in New York earlier this autumn. Gibraltar is betting that a clear rulebook will give it an edge in Europe.