Athena Ascending

About Athena Ascending

Kalshi has imposed strict protocols for customer sign-up, which includes proof of US residency, along with a US tax identification number. The operator also requires traders to complete a robust know-your-customer check before trading on its site.

Per a nine-page member agreement issued by Kalshi in June, users are required to acknowledge that they are prohibited from trading on event contracts if domiciled in roughly three dozen countries. Australia, by way of the ASIC ban, received inclusion on the list. Under the agreement, Kalshi reserves the right to deny users access to its platform in the restricted jurisdictions.

In a statement released in August, ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland wrote that users who opt to engage with overseas operators may miss out on “protections” afforded to them on Australian soil. Another regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, banned Polymarket from operating nationwide in 2025. According to the agency, Polymarket violated the Interactive Gaming Act of 2001 by accepting in-play betting on sports events.

What is Athena Ascending?

African iGaming Alliance (AiA) CEO Peter Kesitilwe hopes the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week is the start of a new era for collaboration across the continent’s licensed sector.

The AiA hosted the first Africa Safer Gambling Week this week, bringing together stakeholders such as regulators, operators and industry associations on a range of issues relating to safer gambling.

As Kesitilwe explains, a key theme of the week has been turning conversations on safer gambling into practical actions.

About Athena Ascending

Parliament rose on 22 July having passed 162 laws, none concerning betting. Egyptian news outlet Al-Watan reported that electronic betting was still among the committee’s files awaiting discussion on 17 August, listed separately from the cybercrime amendments. The House reconvenes on 1 October.

Neither bill has created a route to license private online betting. Egypt is pursuing an increasingly punitive enforcement model instead.

The three markets have reached the same point by different routes. Morocco has an incumbent defending its exclusivity through the courts, so far without success.