Malta’s Prediction Market Bid Could Make It the First EU Nation With a Standalone Regime

Malta wants to be first. First EU country with a standalone regulatory framework for prediction markets — not shoehorned under gambling law, not squeezed into financial services rules, but something built specifically for this sector. Prime Minister Robert Abela went public with plans to give the Malta Gaming Authority licensing powers over prediction markets. Economy Minister Silvio Schembri confirmed the government is actively drafting the proposal. If it clears the legislative process, Malta becomes the only EU member state with a purpose-built prediction market regime. Sound familiar? It should. Malta ran the same playbook back in 2018, moving fast on crypto asset rules before the EU eventually produced MiCA. That early-mover bet paid off in terms of reputation and business attraction. They’re trying it again.

Blockchain.com Brings Polymarket Inside Its App

Blockchain.com didn’t wait for regulators. The company folded Polymarket directly into its brokerage app, letting users trade prediction market contracts right next to their crypto positions. The integration runs on Polymarket’s API, so the experience is meant to feel seamless — one app, multiple market types. It’s still early days for the feature, but the direction is pretty clear. Blockchain.com is betting that its existing user base wants access to event-driven markets without jumping between platforms. Robinhood and Interactive Brokers have made similar moves, weaving predictive contracts into their broader financial product menus. The pattern across these platforms is basically the same: prediction markets stop being a niche destination and start being just another tab in an app people already have open.

That’s a meaningful shift. Prediction markets have spent years operating at the edge of mainstream finance, accessible mostly to people willing to seek them out. Folding them into established brokerage apps changes the distribution equation entirely. Suddenly the addressable audience is every existing user, not just the curious early adopters.

Jump Trading Builds Out Its Prediction Market Team

Jump Trading is hiring. Aggressively. The firm has significantly grown the headcount dedicated to prediction markets, and the talent profile it’s chasing is deliberately unconventional. They want people from sports betting. From accounting. From fields that don’t look anything like traditional quantitative finance. That’s a deliberate choice. Event-based trading doesn’t run on the same logic as equity markets or futures. Historical price data matters less. Real-time context matters more. Someone who spent years handicapping sports outcomes probably thinks about probability in ways a pure quant doesn’t, and Jump Trading seems to want both skill sets in the same room.

The firm’s expansion into this space is ongoing — no finish line announced, just a sustained recruitment drive into a growing segment they clearly think has legs.

More context: Xryma Eyes Euronext Paris Debut With 110 Million Shares and No Capital Raise

And then there’s the incident that nobody in the prediction market world really wanted to see. ABC News reported that a White House technical assistant allegedly made around $100,000 trading Kalshi contracts tied to President Trump’s speeches. Kalshi’s own surveillance systems flagged the trades. The company referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. No further details on where that referral stands, and Kalshi didn’t specify publicly beyond the referral itself.

It’s a bad look for a sector that’s been working hard to position itself as a legitimate financial tool rather than a gray-market curiosity. The CFTC has been watching prediction markets closely for years. Kalshi in particular fought a long regulatory battle just to operate legally in the US. An insider trading allegation — even an alleged one — hitting this close to the White House is exactly the kind of story that gives skeptical lawmakers ammunition.

Whether it derails anything is unclear yet. The CFTC referral is on record. The alleged profits were $100,000. And Kalshi’s surveillance caught it, which is probably the most important detail for the firm’s credibility.

Back in Malta, the regulatory proposal still needs formal legislative drafting before it becomes law. Schembri confirmed active development, but no timeline has been set publicly. If Malta does get there first among EU nations, the framework could shape how other member states think about prediction markets — or at least give them a model to argue about. The 2018 crypto precedent is the obvious comparison, and it’s the one Maltese officials seem comfortable leaning on.

Read also: Alpaca Lands $435 Million Backed by Krakens Parent and BMO

Blockchain.com’s Polymarket integration is live. Jump Trading’s hiring push is ongoing. The CFTC has the Kalshi referral on its desk.