Kalshi Blocks Indian Users, Expanding Restricted List to 55
Prediction market platform Kalshi has added India to its restricted jurisdictions list, following pressure from Indian regulators on VPN providers.
If you're in India and you've been betting on real-world events through Kalshi, it's time to find another hobby — at least for now. The US-based prediction market platform has quietly added India to its growing list of restricted jurisdictions, which now totals 55 countries where users simply can't access the service.
The timing here isn't random. Indian authorities had already put VPN providers on notice, warning them to stop helping users sneak past geo-blocks to reach platforms like Kalshi. That kind of regulatory pressure from a government tends to accelerate these decisions pretty quickly — and it apparently did.
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For the uninitiated, Kalshi is a federally regulated prediction market in the US that lets people trade on the outcomes of real events — think elections, economic indicators, and other newsworthy happenings. Think of it like a stock market, but instead of buying shares in Apple, you're buying a contract on whether the Fed will cut rates next month. It's a legal, regulated product in the US, but that regulatory clarity doesn't automatically travel across borders.
India joining a list of 55 restricted countries is a meaningful signal about how complicated global expansion remains for fintech and prediction market platforms. Regulatory environments vary wildly from country to country, and what's perfectly legal in New York can land you in serious trouble in New Delhi. Platforms like Kalshi have to constantly weigh the risk of operating in markets where the legal landscape is murky or outright hostile.
For Indian users, this effectively closes an official door — and with regulators already cracking down on VPN workarounds, even the side entrances are getting harder to find. Continue reading at Cointelegraph.
