France pulls plug at Polymarket two years after warning

France has blocked access to the prediction market platform Polymarket nearly two years after initially issuing a warning, according to the French gambling authority, ANJ. The move was announced by the head of the Autorité nationale des jeux on Thursday and officially implemented last Friday. The decision follows a series of regulatory actions against the platform over alleged violations of French gambling laws. According to ANJ, it has been monitoring Polymarket since November 2024. At that time, the regulator issued its first formal warning to the Panamanian-based operator, Adventure One QSS, requiring the company to implement geoblocking measures to prevent financial transactions from France. However, ANJ noted that these restrictions were circumvented in practice, allowing continued access from within the country. The authority accuses Polymarket of illegally promoting gambling activities through real-time betting odds displayed on its homepage. These odds are considered advertising for an offering not licensed in France. According to ANJ, individuals who promote such platforms can face fines of up to €100,000. New allegations emerged in May 2026, when suspicions arose that bets related to weather conditions might have been manipulated using hacked weather sensors. As a result, the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office launched an investigation on May 4. During this probe, ANJ discovered that the sections of the Polymarket platform accessible to users in France and Europe lacked any system for verifying user identities. Despite the existing payment ban, the number of visitors from France continued to grow steadily. In June alone, ANJ recorded 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors to the site. Polymarket has yet to comment on the French blockage. France joins an increasing list of countries restricting prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. Spain had already banned both platforms in May due to lack of gambling licenses and initiated sanction proceedings against them. Prediction markets are also facing growing scrutiny over insider trading concerns. Recently, a Google employee in the United States was charged with insider trading on the platform, having allegedly made over $1.2 million in profits using confidential corporate information. Earlier, a U.S. soldier was arrested for allegedly placing bets on Polymarket using classified information regarding the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Prediction markets allow users to bet on the outcomes of future events, ranging from sports events to elections, weather phenomena, and conflicts. Unlike traditional bookmakers, users do not bet against the house but trade shares among themselves, with the platform facilitating the transaction and collecting a fee. Currently, there is no uniform regulation governing platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket within the European Union. In Germany, online gambling operators must hold a license, which neither Kalshi nor Polymarket possess. Consequently, Polymarket blocks trades originating from Germany but allows users to view market data. Kalshi does not officially prohibit trading from German-speaking countries but refers to regional restrictions.