Are Prediction Markets Legal in Singapore? (2026)
The Short Answer
No. Singapore's Gambling Control Act 2022 makes it an offence to gamble with an unlicensed provider, and the Gambling Regulatory Authority declared Polymarket an illegal gambling site in January 2025 and had internet providers block it. Kalshi lists Singapore among its restricted jurisdictions. Unlike most countries, Singapore penalises the individual as well as the operator: section 20 carries a fine of up to $10,000, up to six months imprisonment, or both. Singapore Pools is the only licensed remote operator.
Most "is it legal" guides for prediction markets end with a shrug, because in most countries the law targets operators and leaves players alone. Singapore is the exception that makes the question worth answering properly. The Act reaches the person placing the bet, the regulator has already named one of the two largest platforms, and the penalties are written down. This walks through what the law actually says, what happened to Polymarket, where Kalshi stands, and what is left that is lawful.
Key Takeaways
- The Gambling Control Act 2022 came into force on 1 August 2022 and covers remote and online gambling, not just physical venues.
- Section 20 makes gambling with an unlicensed provider an offence for the individual: up to $10,000, up to six months imprisonment, or both.
- The Gambling Regulatory Authority declared Polymarket an illegal gambling site on 12 January 2025 and ordered internet providers to block access.
- Kalshi is CFTC-regulated in the United States, but that carries no weight in Singapore, and Kalshi lists Singapore as restricted.
- Reading market data is a different activity from placing a trade, and the Act is written around staking money on an outcome.
What the Gambling Control Act Actually Covers
Singapore replaced a patchwork of older gambling statutes with the Gambling Control Act 2022, in force since 1 August 2022. Two features of it matter for prediction markets.
The first is reach. The Act deliberately covers gambling conducted through telecommunications and electronic platforms, rather than treating online activity as a separate category to be legislated later. An offshore website is not outside its scope simply because the company sits elsewhere.
The second is that the drafting targets substance over labelling. The definitions are built around consideration, chance and a prize or thing of value. Calling a product a market, an event contract, a game, or a set of tokens or points does not decide the question. What decides it is whether money is staked on an uncertain outcome for a return. That is precisely why "it is a derivative, not a bet" travels poorly here: it is an argument about the label.
The Part That Applies to You, Not Just the Platform
This is the detail that separates Singapore from most jurisdictions covered in these guides.
In many countries, including under the Indian legislation we have written about, the offences run against operators, advertisers and payment facilitators. The individual placing the bet is not the target. Singapore is not built that way.
Section 20 of the Act deals with gambling with an unlicensed gambling service provider. It is an offence for a person in Singapore to take part in unlicensed remote gambling, and an individual convicted under it is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.
| Singapore | Typical elsewhere | |
|---|---|---|
| Who commits the offence | Operator and the individual gambling | Operator, advertiser, payment facilitator |
| Individual penalty | Up to $10,000, up to 6 months, or both | Usually none specified |
| Enforcement seen so far | ISP-level blocking, platform named by the regulator | Blocking, sometimes only advisories |
| Licensed remote operator | Singapore Pools only | Varies |
Whether the authorities pursue individual users is a separate question from whether the offence exists. It exists, and it is written down with a number attached.
What Happened to Polymarket
Polymarket is not a grey area in Singapore. On 12 January 2025 the Gambling Regulatory Authority declared it an illegal gambling site and ordered local internet service providers to block access to it.
That is a specific, named regulatory action rather than an inference from general principles. It also means the usual argument that offshore crypto platforms sit outside local rules has already been tested here and answered.
Practically, the site is unreachable on ordinary Singapore connections. Reports around the ban noted continued interest in Singapore-related markets, which tells you the block is a network restriction, not a change in anybody's appetite. A block is not the same thing as permission, and routing around one does not change the legal position under section 20.
Where Kalshi Stands
Kalshi is a CFTC-designated contract market in the United States, which is a genuine regulatory status and the reason it is often described as the regulated option.
That status is American. It grants nothing in Singapore, where the relevant question is whether the operator is licensed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority, and Kalshi is not. Kalshi lists Singapore among its restricted jurisdictions, so the platform's own terms and Singapore law point the same way.
The pattern is worth internalising for any country guide: a licence is jurisdictional. Being regulated in one place is not a passport, and platforms that describe themselves as "regulated" without naming the regulator are describing a status that may not apply where you live.
What Is Actually Lawful
Singapore Pools is the only operator licensed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority to provide remote gambling services. Its products are the lawful route for staking money on an outcome from Singapore, and its coverage looks nothing like a prediction market order book.
Beyond that, the honest answer is that there is no compliant offshore prediction market for someone located in Singapore at the time of writing. Any page presenting a list of "Polymarket alternatives that work in Singapore" is selling something, usually a referral link, and is describing platforms that are unlicensed in exactly the same way.
Market Data Is a Separate Question
There is a distinction worth drawing, because it is the difference between two genuinely different activities.
The Act is built around staking money on an uncertain outcome for a return. Reading what a market is pricing, studying how odds moved, or building software against public market data is not that transaction. Researchers, journalists, students and developers work with this data routinely, and it is published by the venues themselves.
This is where Predictefy fits for a Singapore-based reader, and it is deliberately not a way around the law. Predictefy is a data layer: one API and SDK covering 17 prediction market venues, with normalised prices, order books, historical candles and cross-venue matching. A free API key comes with a monthly credit allowance, so you can query and build without paying, within those limits. It is infrastructure for reading and analysing markets, not a venue for trading on them, and it does not give anyone access to a platform that is blocked or unlicensed where they are.
If your interest in prediction markets is analytical, that route is open. If your interest is placing money on outcomes from Singapore, the law is clear and no tool changes it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Polymarket legal in Singapore?
No. The Gambling Regulatory Authority declared Polymarket an illegal gambling site on 12 January 2025 and ordered internet providers to block it. Under the Gambling Control Act 2022 it is an unlicensed remote gambling service, and taking part in one is an offence for the individual, not only the operator.
Is Kalshi legal in Singapore?
No. Kalshi is CFTC-designated in the United States, but that status has no effect in Singapore, where the operator would need a licence from the Gambling Regulatory Authority. Kalshi does not hold one and lists Singapore among its restricted jurisdictions, so its own terms and Singapore law agree.
Can individuals be fined for using prediction markets in Singapore?
Yes, and this is what makes Singapore unusual. Section 20 of the Gambling Control Act 2022 covers gambling with an unlicensed provider, and an individual convicted is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Most countries penalise only operators.
Does a VPN make Polymarket legal in Singapore?
No. A block is a network restriction, and getting around it changes nothing in the Act, which turns on taking part in unlicensed remote gambling rather than on how you reached the site. Platform terms also commonly prohibit using a VPN to bypass geographic restrictions, putting your account at risk too.
Can I still study prediction market data from Singapore?
Reading and analysing public market data is a different activity from staking money on an outcome. Predictefy provides that as a data layer: one API and SDK across 17 venues with normalised prices and order books, and a free key with a monthly credit allowance. It is for research and building, not for trading on blocked venues.
Conclusion
Singapore is one of the clearest answers in this whole category, and one of the strictest. The Act covers online gambling explicitly, judges products by substance rather than by what they are called, and reaches the individual as well as the operator. Polymarket has been named and blocked. Kalshi's American regulator does not travel. Singapore Pools is the only licensed remote route.
If you are in Singapore and interested in prediction markets, the realistic split is between analysis, which is open to you, and trading, which is not.
One housekeeping note: this is general information, not legal advice. Gambling law and platform availability change, and enforcement practice is not the same thing as the text of a statute. Confirm anything that matters against the Gambling Control Act 2022 itself, the Gambling Regulatory Authority, or a qualified Singapore lawyer before relying on it.