France blocks Polymarket after the country ordered internet service providers to cut access to the prediction market on Friday. The move widened France’s action beyond an earlier ban on financial transfers to the site. The national gaming authority ANJ said Polymarket would no longer be reachable in French territory.
ANJ said a November 2024 measure had already stopped French accounts from sending money to the platform. However, the regulator said the site stayed available in France. As a result, ANJ said that access itself acted as advertising for an unauthorised betting operation.
The regulator added that promoting an unauthorised betting or gambling site is a criminal offence in France. It said fines can reach 100,000 euros. Meanwhile, ANJ said French traffic to Polymarket kept rising despite the payment ban.
France Blocks Polymarket After Traffic Rise
ANJ said visits from French internet addresses reached 578,751 last month. Therefore, the regulator said users were still finding ways around the earlier restriction. That increase pushed France to take the tougher step of blocking the site.
Polymarket lets users bet on future events. Those events range from elections to geopolitical developments. ANJ said the platform updates odds in real time as events unfold.
Integrity Concerns Add to Scrutiny
France blocks Polymarket as regulators also face wider concerns about prediction markets. In April, Meteo-France filed a complaint after someone hacked one of its weather probes. The complaint said the apparent aim was to sway bets linked to that data on Polymarket.
Separately, a US soldier faces federal charges tied to prediction market bets. The case alleges the soldier used classified information linked to the January operation that captured former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. The article said the wagers allegedly produced more than $400,000 in profit.
ANJ also said France is not acting alone. Germany, Italy and Spain also restrict or block access to online prediction markets, according to the regulator. France, however, still allows standard online sports betting.
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Source: InvestingLive
