German gambling regulator warns against social betting

• The German gambling regulator has blasted social betting platforms and named Polymarket specifically
• According to the regulator, these platforms are gambling and fail to meet standards under German laws
• Instances of social betting are increasingly popular across the country

The German gambling regulator, Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), has warned against participation in social betting activities, which the watchdog said are increasingly common.

The GGL went so far as to outline specific examples of platforms that it believed violate local laws, naming Polymarket, which the regulator said is not a permitted product to explore and is considered illegal under German law.

German regulator says prediction platforms and social betting don’t have a place in the country

The regulator noted that there have been increasing reports of social betting in both regional and national betting, and that some recreational betting would go so far as to focus on the outcome of theUkrainian war.

The GGL insisted that these social betting formats have been increasingly susceptible to manipulation and, as such, ought to be avoided altogether. A translated statement from the regulator’s website read:

"Due to the highrisk of manipulation,such bets are not eligible for approval according to Section 3 Paragraph 1, Sentence 4 in conjunction with Section 4 Paragraph 5 of the2021 State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021). The legislature has only permitted bets on defined sporting events with verifiable results and clear rules."

Yet, prediction markets have vociferously argued that they hardly constitute a form of gambling whatsoever.

In the United States, in particular, many prediction platforms have been able to stave off such legal challenges, but European jurisdictions have proven tougher nuts to crack, with France and Germany in particular successfully ousting prominent platforms in the case of the former and now taking a harder stance against them in the case of the second.

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