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France’s National Gambling Authority has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, putting the prediction-market platform back under regulatory pressure in one of Europe’s largest markets.
The ANJ said its president issued the network-level blocking request on July 16. The regulator framed Polymarket as an illegal gambling operation and cited concerns including consumer addiction, lack of know-your-customer controls, and the potential manipulation of betting outcomes.
One example mentioned by the regulator involved weather data manipulation, which shows how broad the concern is. Prediction markets do not only cover elections or crypto prices. They can involve real-world outcomes where the line between forecasting, betting, and market influence becomes uncomfortable for regulators.
This is not an EU-wide ban. It is a French order. But it is still a warning shot for the prediction-market sector.
TL;DR
- France’s ANJ has ordered ISPs to block access to Polymarket.
- The regulator classified the platform as an illegal gambling operation.
- The action is specific to France, not a blanket European Union ban.
Prediction Markets Are Running Into Old Gambling Rules
Prediction markets have always had a regulatory identity problem.
Supporters describe them as information markets. Users trade on probabilities, and prices can reveal what the crowd believes about future events. That can be useful, especially when markets are liquid and participants have strong incentives to be accurate.
Regulators often see something much simpler: betting.
A user puts money behind an outcome. The outcome resolves. The user wins or loses. If that activity is offered to residents without local authorization, gambling regulators tend to get involved.
That is the tension Polymarket is facing in France.
The platform may be crypto-native, global, and built around market pricing, but the ANJ is treating access through the lens of gambling law and consumer protection.
For prediction markets, that is a difficult problem to escape.
Why The KYC Issue Matters
The ANJ’s concern around KYC is important.
Regulators do not only care that people are betting. They care who is betting, how users are onboarded, whether minors can access the service, whether problem gambling protections exist, and whether suspicious activity can be monitored.
Crypto prediction markets can be especially hard for regulators because they often operate across borders and use digital wallets rather than conventional accounts.
That creates a mismatch.
A platform can be accessible from a jurisdiction even if it is not licensed there. Users can reach it through normal internet access. Funds can move through crypto rails. That makes enforcement harder, so regulators sometimes turn to ISP blocking.
Blocking does not necessarily eliminate access completely. Users may use VPNs or other workarounds. But it raises friction and sends a clear message to platforms, payment providers, and local users.
The Manipulation Concern Is Different
The ANJ’s reference to possible manipulation of betting outcomes is also worth taking seriously.
In financial markets, manipulation usually means trying to move the price of an asset. In prediction markets, manipulation can mean something stranger: trying to influence the real-world event itself.
That concern depends heavily on the market.
Some outcomes are too large for traders to influence. Others may be more vulnerable. Weather data, niche events, small elections, lower-liquidity markets, or outcomes based on specific data sources can create awkward incentives.
If a market pays out based on an event that someone can influence, regulators may see added consumer and public-interest risks.
That does not mean every prediction market is dangerous. But it helps explain why gambling authorities may not be convinced by the “information market” framing.
France Adds Pressure To A Fast-Growing Sector
Polymarket has become one of the most visible prediction-market platforms in crypto.
Its growth has shown that users want markets on politics, macro events, sports, culture, crypto outcomes, and almost anything else that can be resolved with a data source. That demand is real.
But regulatory pressure is real too.
France’s action shows that national regulators are willing to use existing gambling powers against crypto-native prediction markets. Other countries may look at similar tools if they believe unlicensed platforms are targeting local users.
For Polymarket and rivals, the path forward may require more jurisdiction-specific controls, licensing strategies, KYC layers, or restricted access.
That could make the user experience less open, but it may be necessary if prediction markets want to operate at scale.
The larger question is whether prediction markets can find a regulatory category that separates useful forecasting from unlicensed gambling. Until that happens, platforms may keep running into country-by-country enforcement.
France has now made its view clear: if Polymarket is accessible to French users without authorization, it can be blocked.
This article is based on the French National Gambling Authority’s blocking order relating to Polymarket.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
