French Regulators Order ISPs to Block Polymarket Over Illegal Gambling Concerns

France’s primary gambling regulator has officially moved to sever domestic access to Polymarket, the decentralized prediction platform that captured global attention during recent political cycles.

The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), also known as the National Gambling Authority, has issued an order requiring French internet service providers (ISPs) to block user access to the platform. According to a press release issued by the regulator on Friday, prediction websites operating without explicit domestic licensing are classified as illegal gambling under French law.

The ANJ emphasized that Polymarket does not hold the necessary authorization to offer its services within France. Furthermore, the regulator warned that promoting or advertising unauthorized gambling platforms carries severe legal consequences, constituting a criminal offense that can result in fines of up to 100,000 euros ($114,000).

The Regulatory Case Against Polymarket

The ANJ’s decision to block the platform follows a period of escalating tension. The regulator first signaled its intention to take action against Polymarket in November 2024, citing non-compliance with national gaming frameworks.

In its official statement, the ANF argued that Polymarket features “addictive features” comparable to traditional, regulated gambling products. However, the regulator noted that these risks are “amplified by the absence of the protective mechanisms found in the legal gambling market,” such as self-exclusion tools, age verification, and deposit limits.

Beyond consumer protection concerns, the French authority raised alarms over potential outcome manipulation tied to specific event contracts hosted on the platform. These concerns are already the subject of an active law enforcement inquiry. The cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated a formal investigation into the platform in May 2026. According to the regulator, that probe uncovered a systemic lack of identity verification protocols, including standard Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, which are mandatory for financial and gambling operations within the European Union.

Decentralized Tech vs. Geoblocking

Polymarket operates as a decentralized Web3 application built on the Polygon blockchain, an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling network. Transactions on the platform are executed using the USDC stablecoin, and contract resolutions rely on decentralized oracle networks like UMA (Universal Market Access).

While the underlying smart contracts exist permanently on a public blockchain, user interaction typically occurs through a centralized web front-end (polymarket.com). This hybrid architecture makes the platform vulnerable to traditional regulatory enforcement mechanisms, such as domain-level ISP blocking and geoblocking.

Polymarket has increasingly relied on geoblocking to navigate global regulatory friction. The platform currently restricts access in 36 regions worldwide. Among the nations that have blocked or seen access restricted to Polymarket are Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, Brazil, and Indonesia.

The ISP blocking order in France adds to a challenging period for the platform, which was recently hit by a $2.9 million theft targeting user accounts. Polymarket has pledged that affected users will be fully refunded.

Global Scrutiny and the US Legal Battle

The regulatory crackdown in France mirrors a broader global debate over the legal status of prediction markets. Proponents argue these platforms serve as highly accurate forecasting tools by leveraging the “wisdom of the crowd” and requiring participants to back their predictions with capital. Regulators, however, increasingly view them as speculative venues operating outside established financial and gaming laws.

In the United States, the battle over prediction markets has reached both state and federal courts. On June 17, the state of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against five major prediction platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of operating unlicensed sports betting platforms. At least 17 other U.S. states have since launched similar legal actions.

This state-level offensive has triggered a jurisdictional conflict with federal regulators. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued eight states, asserting that their local legal actions interfere with the federal agency’s exclusive regulatory authority over federally overseen event contracts. While CFTC-regulated platforms like Kalshi have fought extensive legal battles to offer election-related contracts to American residents, Polymarket has remained geoblocked for U.S. traders since a 2022 settlement with the CFTC, though it continues to face intense scrutiny over domestic users bypassing those blocks via virtual private networks (VPNs).