France blocks access to Polymarket website

Odaily Planet Daily News The French National Gambling Authority (ANJ) announced on July 17 that it will block access for users within France to the prediction market platform Polymarket, after the platform had already been prohibited from accepting financial transactions from French accounts.

The ANJ stated that although France had already restricted financial transactions related to Polymarket in November 2024, the platform's website remained continuously accessible to French users, with user traffic growing, leading to the decision to implement further web-blocking measures.

Data shows that Polymarket allows users to engage in prediction trading regarding the outcomes of future events, including politics, economics, sports, and other fields. Because the platform displays betting odds for different events in real-time, French regulators believe this form constitutes advertising for unauthorized gambling websites.

The ANJ noted: "Promoting unauthorized betting or gambling websites in any way constitutes a criminal offense." Such violations could result in fines of up to €100,000 (approximately S$147,000).

The regulatory body stated that although French accounts can no longer conduct related transactions, traffic from French IP addresses has continued to rise, with visits reaching 578,751 in June.

This blockade further highlights the attention European regulators are paying to prediction market platforms. As decentralized prediction markets like Polymarket grow rapidly worldwide, how to classify them—as financial innovation, information markets, or gambling operations—is becoming a focal point of regulatory discussions across countries. (Straitstimes)