Last Tuesday, the Department of Internal Affairs gambling director Vicki Scott told Newsroom, “We consider platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket to be gambling under New Zealand law … they aren’t authorised operators, they are prohibited from offering their gambling products to people in this country.”

Within a day Kalshi had blocked New Zealand-based users from placing bets on their platform. Yesterday, Scott informed The Spinoff, “Polymarket appears not to have taken any action … and is still available to New Zealanders.”

Scott says that it is an offence to place a bet on one of these sites: “However, we are not looking to penalise those engaging with these platforms … That said, New Zealanders who engage with Polymarket should do so with caution. There will be no recourse through the gambling regulator if things go wrong”.

Made with the support of NZ On Air.