About this app
What is Astronaut?
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that, if it were up to him, online betting companies would be shut down.
During a livestream on Sunday, he said he had met with “eight victims of online betting”. To reinforce his criticism of the sector and in an attempt to win over conservative voters, he pointed out that one gambler had made 1,400 instant fund transfers (Pix) to a betting site. Lula criticised the Central Bank for failing to detect such a high volume of transactions to a single company.
However, that responsibility does not lie with the Central Bank. It is the role of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to monitor and regulate the sector. Betting companies submit detailed daily reports on bettors’ financial transactions with the sites. A specific module within Brazil’s betting management system detects recurring transfers.
What is Astronaut?
Since returning its prediction market to the US, Polymarket has regularly engaged in nonconforming advertising. Painting a water tower in the company’s blue and branding the structure with its logo is the firm’s latest marketing ploy.
In March, Polymarket opened The Situation Room, a pop-up “newsbar” in Washington, DC. The bar and lounge’s televisions played various content related to prediction markets, like Bloomberg Terminals, cable news, and live social media feeds that were “dedicated to monitoring the situation.”
A month earlier, Polymarket opened a free grocery store in New York City. The promotion ran Feb. 12-16, with shoppers allowed to gather up to $50 per person in free groceries.
How to play Astronaut
Coordinated efforts between the government’s cybercrime and anti-smuggling units, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and local prosecutors led to raids in the provinces of Adıyaman, Konya, Manisa, Muğla, Tekirdağ, Siirt, Muş and Çorum.
Officials alleged that the individuals involved had been operating illegal betting websites and had facilitated the movement of proceeds from gambling through Türkiye’s financial system.
The Interior Ministry insisted that the crackdown on digital illegal gambling would persist as part of a broader strategy to prevent criminal proceeds being fed into the economy via banking and payment infrastructures.
