Headline: France orders ISPs to block Polymarket as regulators tighten scrutiny of prediction markets
France’s gambling regulator has escalated its fight against Polymarket, ordering internet service providers to block access to the prediction-market platform on July 16, 2026. The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) says Polymarket promotes gambling services that are not authorized under French law and that prior geoblocking measures had been bypassed.
Key points
- The ANJ has monitored Polymarket since November 2024 over concerns that its event markets amount to illegal gambling. Despite an earlier restriction, the regulator says Polymarket’s French traffic grew: 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors in June 2026. The regulator added that the platform’s homepage continued to show live odds, which it considers promotion of an unauthorized service.
- Under French rules, promoting an unauthorized gambling platform, or publicly sharing odds/payout ratios to promote it, can carry fines up to €100,000. The ANJ used its administrative powers in 2025 to block 1,290 URLs.
- The ANJ also flagged market integrity and security issues: some markets “appeared to be rigged,” weather sensors tied to certain markets “may have been hacked,” and a cybercrime probe was opened on May 4, 2026 and assigned to France’s Office for Combating Cybercrime.
- The regulator found Polymarket’s services available to French and European users lacked sufficient identity and location checks, saying stronger KYC and geolocation measures are needed to prevent access from France.
Wider regulatory ripple effects in Europe and the US
- France is not alone: the Czech Republic has also ordered ISPs to block Polymarket after classifying it as an unauthorized gambling service.
- Across Europe, authorities are split on how to treat prediction markets: some label them gambling, while financial regulators are weighing whether certain contracts qualify as securities or derivatives. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has said some event-based contracts could be financial instruments under MiFID II — which would expose them to different rules and possibly existing restrictions on binary options for retail traders.
- Academic research has added to concerns about market mechanics. A Stanford-led study found potential incentives for settlement-price manipulation in five-minute Bitcoin prediction markets, estimating roughly $1.28 million shifted from ordinary traders to more sophisticated participants.
- In the United States, prediction-market operators are also facing legal battles. Kentucky sued platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi, alleging they offered sports betting without state licenses. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has pushed back against state-level intervention and sued Kentucky, deepening a jurisdictional fight over who regulates event contracts.
Security footprint and next steps
- Polymarket has also been hit by a frontend phishing attack that led to roughly $3.1 million in losses across 11 wallets; the affected users are to receive refunds.
- The ANJ said it will continue monitoring Polymarket and any new measures the platform introduces to verify users’ identities and locations. For operators of prediction markets, regulators’ diverging approaches — gambling authorities, securities regulators, and consumer-protection agencies — mean compliance choices will shape who can keep offering services in which jurisdictions.
Why it matters
Polymarket’s blocking in France underlines the uncertain regulatory status for prediction markets: they sit at the crossroads of gambling law, financial regulation and cybersecurity. As enforcement intensifies in Europe and legal battles play out in the US, market operators will face mounting pressure to strengthen KYC, tighten settlement mechanisms and address integrity gaps — or risk similar restrictions and prosecutions.
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