France Orders ISPs to Block Polymarket in Escalating Crackdown
French gaming regulator ANJ directed internet providers to cut access to Polymarket, escalating beyond a 2024 transaction ban after site visits kept rising.
France's national gaming authority ANJ ordered internet service providers on Friday to fully block access to Polymarket, escalating a regulatory crackdown that began in November 2024 when French accounts were barred from sending money to the prediction market platform. The ISP-level block means the site is now entirely inaccessible from French territory, not merely restricted at the payment layer.
ANJ justified the move by arguing that Polymarket's continued display of real-time betting odds constituted unlawful advertising for an unauthorized gambling site — an offense that can carry fines of up to €100,000. The regulator pointed to data showing French IP addresses generated 578,751 visits to the platform last month alone, demonstrating that the earlier transaction ban had failed to suppress user interest.
Read more Germany's Merz Opens Door to Potential Cabinet Reshuffle →
The enforcement action arrives against a backdrop of compounding integrity concerns. France's national weather agency Météo-France filed a criminal complaint in April after one of its atmospheric probes was hacked specifically to manipulate Polymarket bets. Separately, a U.S. soldier is facing federal charges for allegedly leveraging classified military information to place wagers on prediction markets tied to the January operation involving former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, reportedly netting more than $400,000. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Polymarket paid social media creators to fabricate trades and wins as part of a covert U.S. promotional campaign.
France now joins Germany, Italy, and Spain in restricting or blocking access to prediction market platforms, signaling that major European regulators are willing to move beyond transactional prohibitions to full site-level enforcement when platforms fail to comply. For Polymarket, which has seen trading volumes and public interest expand sharply, the episode crystallizes a growing regulatory and reputational headwind that other jurisdictions are closely watching as they weigh their own rules.
Continue reading at Forexlive.
