Japan's LDP Discusses Prediction Markets Amid Gambling Regulation Debate

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Digital Advanced Finance Parliamentary Group has announced it will consider prediction markets—where users trade on future events such as election outcomes, economic indicators, and Bitcoin (BTC) prices—as a potential agenda item, according to local media Nada News citing party sources. The group is not yet at the stage of formalizing regulations but plans to first share information and assess market trends. Future steps include gathering input from U.S. prediction platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, as well as Japanese operators, to clarify key issues. A central point of debate in Japan is whether prediction markets fall under current gambling laws.