7bet launches prediction markets in Lithuania and Latvia on Altenar technology

Vilnius-based online gambling operator 7bet has announced the launch of a prediction markets product in Lithuania and Latvia. The company holds licences in both countries as well as in the United Kingdom.

Players will be able to trade event contracts tied to elections, politics, weather, celebrity news and other local and international developments. In a LinkedIn post, 7bet described the launch as another step in its strategy of bringing the latest global trends and innovative products to players in every market where it operates.

The platform runs on technology from Altenar, a B2B betting technology supplier that moved into prediction markets earlier this year as the sector grew globally.

The regulatory position remains unsettled. Lithuania recently banned Polymarket, one of the world's largest prediction markets platforms, yet such products are still a legal grey area in both Lithuania and Latvia. They are not explicitly prohibited or criminalised, but offers must comply strictly with European and local fiscal rules and with gambling regulations.

The picture is clearer in Lithuania, where prediction markets are treated as a gambling product and offering them without a licence is illegal. Latvia, by contrast, requires a gambling licence only when a platform offers non-financial event contracts, such as those on political elections, sports outcomes and pop culture. It is not yet clear where 7bet's offering falls within those lines. SBC News has approached the regulators of both countries and the Lithuanian Prediction Markets Institute for comment.

Separately, Lithuania reported that it has ordered internet service providers to block a total of 2,208 illegal gambling domains. The order came from the country's gambling authority, which operates under the Ministry of Finance, after an investigation into websites hosting gambling services without the required licence. The approach mirrors the one used against Polymarket, and Latvia holds identical ISP blocking powers should its own gambling regulator need to use them.