Thors Lightning

What is Thors Lightning?

The drafting of the text is reportedly in the hands of the Civil House, with some believing that it serves an electoral purpose, meaning Lula potentially riding the wave of criticism against the sector.

The Brazil betting industry has faced increasing scrutiny of late over claims that families are falling into debt because of gambling.

The president is not seeking to introduce the measures through a full bill, as the legislative process in Congress could reduce their immediate political impact ahead of the elections.

What is Thors Lightning?

Earlier this year Merkur Group agreed to acquire the slots provider White Hat Studios. Merkur said the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, would “further accelerate” its US expansion, complementing its 2025 purchase of the Nevada-licensed supplier Gaming Arts.  

Framing the acquisition as the latest step in the company’s online expansion, Merkur supervisory board Chairman Michael Gauselmann stated: “Having made early inroads into the online space in Europe via our Blueprint acquisition in 2012, I am delighted by this latest development and am confident that White Hat Studios will be a great addition to our group.” 

In recent weeks, the gambling sector paid tribute to Paul Gauselmann after the Merkur Group founder passed away at the age of 91.

About Thors Lightning

The pure-play prediction market-operators, Polymarket and Kalshi, emerged from Week 1 as the clear winners. On one hand, Kalshi’s market share lead narrowed over its competitors, falling to 82% for the week ended 13 September, down from 86% a week earlier.

Still, Kalshi had a nine-fold lead over Polymarket, its next closest rival. Polymarket, meanwhile, led the group with 762,000 app downloads, edging Kalshi, DraftKings and FanDuel in the category. The downloads represented a 13,509% weekly increase and 25% of total category downloads, Polymarket wrote in a statement.

Across the market, operators delivered high double-digit gains compared with Labor Day weekend, which featured a full slate of college football games but no NFL contests. Two operators, DraftKings and Underdog each saw triple-digit growth, delivering weekly increases of 125% and 119%, respectively. Three others, Polymarket, Crypto.com and Novig, saw gains of at least 30%, led by Polymarket with a weekly increase of 46%.