Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has signed the nation’s first law banning prediction market sites from operating in the state, the most far-reaching crackdown on massively popular services like Kalshi and Polymarket.

It comes as states confront a growing standoff with the Trump administration over how to regulate the industry, which allows people to bet on virtually anything.

The new state law makes it a crime to host or advertise a prediction market, which it defines as a system that lets consumers place a wager on a future outcome, like sports, elections, weather, live entertainment, someone’s word choice and world affairs.

The prohibition extends to services supporting prediction markets, like virtual private networks, that could allow consumers to disguise their location and get around the ban.

It would force prediction market sites like Kalshi and Polymarket to leave the state, or face possible felony charges. The law takes effect in August.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.caEnglish
    9·
    10 hours ago

    Here is the relevant text of the signed bill SF4760, make your judgement as you will:

    81.23 Subd. 2. Prediction markets; hosting prohibited. A person is guilty of a felony if the 81.24 person, for consideration and as part of a business

    …

    82.14 (5) provides supportive services to a prediction market or consumer knowing that the 82.15 services will be used to identify a consumer’s location, transfer money, or make or process 82.16 payments for the purpose of allowing consumers to make wagers or to settle wagers made 82.17 by consumers in violation of this section.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      5 hours ago

      So they’d have to prove that the VPN provider somehow knew the user’s intention? It will they just steamroll over the facts and claim that any provider should assume that?

      • Fmstrat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        My guess is they’re shooting for VPNs that operate in the state to DNS block the big markets.

      • Rentlar@lemmy.caEnglish
        12·
        10 hours ago

        Good questions. At a minimum any VPN marketing in MN would need to tiptoe around claims that you can watch region locked content as if you were there.

        Personally, I think VPNs that don’t receive or keep customers’ info and logs could have a credible argument that they don’t know whether their customers use it for prediction markets or not.