{"id":1184,"date":"2026-08-13T17:33:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/?p=1184"},"modified":"2026-08-13T17:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T21:33:47","slug":"while-kalshi-resists-pressure-to-raise-its-age-limit-novig-jumps-to-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/while-kalshi-resists-pressure-to-raise-its-age-limit-novig-jumps-to-21\/","title":{"rendered":"While Kalshi Resists Pressure to Raise Its Age Limit, Novig Jumps to 21+"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Novig became the first prediction market to require users be 21 or older, a step Kalshi has so far resisted despite mounting political pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"648\" height=\"308\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-news.mr-gamble.com\/sites\/2\/Novig-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1185\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2.1038972273887278;width:760px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-news.mr-gamble.com\/sites\/2\/Novig-2.jpeg 648w, https:\/\/cdn-news.mr-gamble.com\/sites\/2\/Novig-2-300x143.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prediction market operators have faced growing pressure for months to raise their minimum trading age from 18 to 21, matching the standard at most US sportsbooks. Kalshi&#8217;s CEO has so far pushed back on that specific ask. Novig just did it anyway, becoming the first platform in the space to require users be 21 or older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Novig&#8217;s new responsible trading framework sets a 21-plus age requirement, ahead of Kalshi and Polymarket&#8217;s 18-plus standard<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The move comes less than two weeks after Novig&#8217;s national launch as a federally regulated prediction market<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nevada&#8217;s problem gambling council cut ties with the National Council on Problem Gambling this week specifically over Kalshi&#8217;s 18-plus policy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Happened<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Novig announced the framework, which also includes identity reverification requirements, indefinite self-exclusion options, deposit and loss limits, and delays before those limits can be raised. The company said it won&#8217;t use &#8220;risk-free&#8221; marketing language, an approach the CFTC&#8217;s enforcement division has separately signaled concern about, and won&#8217;t advertise to anyone under 21 or run promotions that encourage chasing losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CEO Jacob Fortinsky framed the framework as something exchanges should build into their own rules rather than leave entirely to customers, saying the goal was to set a new benchmark for how federally regulated prediction markets operate. Novig will also share its framework data with the CFTC on request. The announcement lands less than two weeks after Novig completed its shift from a sweepstakes sportsbook into a nationally available, CFTC-regulated prediction market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Industry Is Under Real Pressure Here<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Novig&#8217;s move doesn&#8217;t happen in a vacuum. Both the NBA and PGA Tour have publicly called on prediction markets to raise their trading age to 21, and in May, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Dave McCormick introduced the Prediction Market Act, federal legislation that would mandate age verification and self-exclusion programs across the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kalshi has responded to that pressure with new detection tools, including facial recognition at signup and selfie checks for higher-risk accounts, but CEO Tarek Mansour has explicitly resisted calls to raise the platform&#8217;s age floor above 18, telling Axios in May the company still wanted to set its own state-of-the-art customer protection standard without matching the sportsbook-style 21-plus threshold. That resistance became a flashpoint again this week: the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling cut ties with the National Council on Problem Gambling, pointing directly to Kalshi&#8217;s 18-plus policy and warning that trading on the platform carries the same risk of harm as gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why It Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Novig is a considerably smaller player than Kalshi or Polymarket, both of which continue to allow users as young as 18. Whether Novig&#8217;s move creates real competitive pressure on the bigger platforms to follow, or ends up more of a marketing differentiator for a company still building its user base, will likely depend on how state regulators and Congress respond in the months ahead. With prediction markets now facing lawsuits in nine states and a federal bill sitting in Congress, age requirements are shaping up to be one of the clearer battle lines in the broader fight over how these platforms should be regulated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novig became the first prediction market to require users be 21 or older, a step Kalshi has so far resisted despite mounting political pressure. Prediction &#8230; <a title=\"While Kalshi Resists Pressure to Raise Its Age Limit, Novig Jumps to 21+\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/while-kalshi-resists-pressure-to-raise-its-age-limit-novig-jumps-to-21\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about While Kalshi Resists Pressure to Raise Its Age Limit, Novig Jumps to 21+\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions\/1186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.mr-gamble.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}