Prediction site Polymarket introduced deposit limits, self-exclusion and addiction resources on Wednesday, as a growing number of state and federal policymakers demand tighter regulation of prediction markets.
The announcement came one week after New York state filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down Polymarket, which state investigators said was circumventing New York’s “strict regulation of licensed gambling.”
Users can now set deposit limits that cannot be immediately reversed, and can place themselves on an “exclusion list” blocking them from the platform temporarily or permanently, CNN reported. Through a partnership with Birches Health, a virtual gambling addiction therapy company, Polymarket will also offer mental health resources to users showing what it calls “compulsive financial trading behaviors.”
“Right now, the number-one priority is just getting this out, giving it into the hands of the millions of people that leverage and use us, and trust us to protect them and keep them safe,” Malea Otranto, Polymarket’s new head of global safety, told CNN.
Prediction sites risk real money in the way gambling does, but they are legally classified as federally regulated financial markets, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state consumer protection laws that govern casinos and sportsbooks. That leaves protective tools voluntary, which many lawmakers say is inadequate.
Jonathan Cohen, who leads gambling policy at the American Institute for Boys and Men, welcomed the steps but cautioned their impact may be limited, citing state data showing few gamblers use similar tools on sportsbooks. “These restrictions are standard fare for online sports-betting platforms,” he said. “The companies are clearly recognizing that from a user standpoint, the behavior is similar to, if not synonymous with, gambling.”
Sports and multi-leg parlays made up more than 98% of trading volume this month on Polymarket’s US site, according to data analysis firm TickerTracker, one reason the safeguards on Polymarket and rival Kalshi resemble “responsible gaming” policies at sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
Polymarket deputy chief legal officer Olivia Chalos acknowledged the parallels but said the company runs a different business model and wants to protect newcomers to financial exchanges. “You’re seeing a user base that did not previously participate in financial markets coming in, and doing this at scale,” she told CNN.
Gaming lawyer Joshua Kirschner said there is “no analogue” in federal law to the “endless list of various tools” that state regulations require of casinos and sportsbooks to promote responsible gambling. A bipartisan coalition of 44 states has argued in court that prediction platforms should be regulated as gambling under state law; a federal appeals court recently ruled that states may do so.
New York’s suit said licensed gambling requires blocking underage users, curbs on predatory advertising, mandatory addiction-program funding and self-exclusion policies. Polymarket denies wrongdoing and has countersued in federal court. New York has also sued Kalshi, which called the case baseless and said it will “hurt New Yorkers.”
“These protections are good for consumers,” Kirschner said, “but maybe it’s also a nod to try to pacify state regulators.” Otranto said Polymarket will track use of the new tools and may adjust them.