Gambling is broadly prohibited, a new federal gaming regulator has begun licensing, and prediction markets sit outside both that licence and the virtual asset rules.
Last reviewed 13 April 2026 · Status as of April 2026 · Information, not legal advice
As of April 2026, no prediction market is licensed in the United Arab Emirates, and the legal position is unsettled. Gambling has long been prohibited under federal law, while a new federal regulator, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, has begun issuing the first commercial gaming licences. Prediction markets sit outside that licensed framework and outside the country's virtual asset rules, so they are reachable but not authorised.
For most of its history the United Arab Emirates has prohibited gambling outright. The federal penal code criminalises games of chance, and the prohibition draws on Islamic legal principles. That broad rule still frames the country, even as a regulated gaming sector has started to take shape. The change began with the creation of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, or GCGRA, a federal body established in 2023 to license and supervise commercial gaming for the first time.
From late 2025 the GCGRA began issuing licences, with an early award covering online casino and sports wagering. That narrow, licensed opening does not extend to prediction markets. Event contract platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi are not licensed by the GCGRA, and they are not covered by the virtual asset regimes that govern crypto activity, including the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Prediction markets therefore fall between two frameworks, neither clearly permitted nor clearly addressed.
In practice the products can be reachable. Reporting indicates Polymarket does not geoblock addresses in the Emirates, but reachability is not authorisation. No regulator has licensed a prediction market for residents, and the legal treatment of a user who trades on an unlicensed platform is untested. Given the broad gambling prohibition and the absence of a licence, the cautious reading is that prediction markets are not legally available to a United Arab Emirates resident, and that anyone considering them should confirm the current position before acting.
No prediction market holds a GCGRA licence. The platforms below are listed so you can see where each one stands, not as places a United Arab Emirates resident can legally sign up.
Kalshi is a United States designated contract market overseen by the CFTC and is built around United States access. It holds no Emirati licence and offers no authorised route to residents of the United Arab Emirates. See the Kalshi profile.
Polymarket is a crypto settled prediction market that reporting suggests does not geoblock addresses in the Emirates. It is not licensed by any Emirati regulator, and reachability is not the same as legal availability. See the Polymarket profile.
The Crypto.com event contract product is a United States CFTC listed offering and is not licensed for residents of the United Arab Emirates. Read the Crypto.com Sports and Events profile.
Platform positions are as of April 2026 and can change. We link to a platform only where it is genuinely available to a reader, and United Arab Emirates is not such a place for these products. Reachability is not the same as legality.
Commercial gaming in the United Arab Emirates is supervised by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority. Prediction markets are not among the products it has licensed. The position is unsettled, so confirm it directly before relying on anything here.
Status as of April 2026. We never invent a citation, and where a position is contested we mark it as contested.
Using a blocked or unlicensed service does not make it safe, and it can expose you to loss with little recourse. Prediction markets can lose you money. Stake only what you can afford to lose, never to chase a loss, and never on borrowed money. If gambling stops feeling like a free choice, step back and seek support from a problem gambling service in your country.
No prediction market is licensed in the United Arab Emirates as of April 2026, and the position is unsettled. Gambling is broadly prohibited and prediction markets sit outside the new licensed gaming framework. This is general information, not legal advice.
Reporting indicates Polymarket does not geoblock addresses in the Emirates, so it can be reachable. Reachability is not authorisation, and no Emirati regulator has licensed the platform.
The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, known as the GCGRA, is the federal body for commercial gaming. It was established in 2023 and began issuing licences from late 2025.
It is possible but untested. The GCGRA has so far licensed online casino and sports wagering, not event or prediction contracts, and there is no public framework that covers them.
Because no prediction market is genuinely licensed and available to a United Arab Emirates resident. We only show an open account or compare path where a platform is licensed and available to you.