Taiwan blocks Kalshi and Coinbase websites over suspected election betting

Taiwan has blocked access to the websites of prediction-market platform Kalshi and crypto exchange Coinbase over suspected election betting. Bloomberg reported the restrictions on October 15, citing a court ruling it reviewed.

The action comes ahead of November’s local elections and adds to the legal challenges facing prediction markets. In Taiwan, betting on election results can carry criminal penalties, including when wagers take place online.

Court order restricts website access

A New Taipei court authorized Taiwan’s communications regulator and internet registry to restrict domestic access to both platforms.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau said it requested the order over suspected violations of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act. Some Coinbase users reported losing access to the website on October 14.

The bureau’s reasons for seeking to impose restrictions included maintaining the integrity of elections and preventing foreign attempts to meddle in them. However, they provided no evidence suggesting that both Kalshi and Coinbase ever handled funds from China.

​The current development does not mean that either company broke the law.

Taiwan’s election-betting rules extend online

Article 103-1 directly refers to placing bets over the internet and other means of electronic communication with regard to election/recall results.

The offence carries up to six-months imprisonment on summary conviction for those placing the bets. Those who do so as organizers for profit could be exposed to five years in prison. The sentences above are the maximum length of penalty under the law, not those received in the above case.

In April, the Taiwanese Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office announced that it had begun an investigation based on information that the public had been using cryptocurrency to bet on the outcome of Taiwanese local elections on Polymarket. 

That separate case shows election-betting enforcement predates the latest restrictions.

Kalshi also faces U.S. regulatory challenges

Kalshi is also facing US regulatory challenges, for which the dispute between prediction market participants partly focuses on who should regulate them within the US. 

As AMBCrypto previously reported, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is arguing that the activities of these prediction platforms fall under its authority, which challenges state efforts to treat sports contracts as gambling.

New York is arguing differently. Its attorney general sued Kalshi in July, alleging that it operated an unlicensed gambling business.

Final Summary

Taiwan has reportedly blocked Kalshi and Coinbase websites over suspected election betting ahead of local polls.

The restrictions come as U.S. authorities argue about how prediction markets should be regulated.