France expands its crackdown on Polymarket
France has moved from restricting payments to cutting off access. The country’s gambling regulator, the Autorite Nationale Des Jeux, said it ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, arguing that the prediction market operates as an unauthorized gambling site in the French market.
The step marks a significant escalation in the government’s effort to limit the platform’s reach. In November 2024, French authorities had already imposed a geoblock on financial transactions from residents using the site. That earlier measure was designed to prevent money from moving through the platform from within France. But according to the regulator, it did not stop the service from attracting users.
The ANJ said Polymarket continued to grow in France despite the payment restrictions, with users finding ways around the earlier controls. The regulator cited 578,751 visits from French residents in June, including 205,057 unique visits. Those figures appear to have strengthened the authority’s case that a transaction ban alone was not enough to limit participation.
Why the move matters
The decision is notable because it targets distribution, not just payments. Blocking access through internet service providers is a more forceful regulatory tool than asking financial intermediaries to step back. It suggests that French authorities now see Polymarket not as a niche edge case in digital finance, but as a mainstream enough service to warrant broader enforcement.
That has implications beyond one website. Prediction markets have long occupied an uneasy position between finance, gaming, and regulated betting. Their defenders describe them as information markets that aggregate public expectations about elections, policy, sports, or global events. Regulators, however, often focus on the wagering mechanics: users stake money on uncertain outcomes and can profit if their forecast is right. In France, the ANJ has made clear which side of that line it believes Polymarket falls on.
The order also underscores a broader policy trend. Governments are becoming less willing to rely on platform self-restraint or geofencing alone when a service gains traction in a prohibited market. When access workarounds are common and audience numbers remain high, regulators are increasingly shifting to network-level restrictions and sharper penalties around promotion.
Advertising pressure increases too
France’s latest action does not stop at access. The ANJ also emphasized that anyone caught advertising an unauthorized betting or gambling site could face a fine of up to 100,000 euros, or about $114,000. That warning broadens the compliance burden to marketers, affiliates, media intermediaries, and potentially creators who might otherwise help drive traffic to the platform.
In practical terms, the threat of fines can be as consequential as the block itself. Even where end users continue to look for technical workarounds, platforms often depend on a surrounding ecosystem of partners, publicity, and online visibility. Enforcement aimed at that ecosystem can reduce growth, increase legal risk, and make continued operation in a market less attractive.
It also reflects a familiar regulatory strategy in online gambling enforcement: pursue both supply and demand. Authorities can make it harder for a service to reach users, harder for users to pay, and riskier for third parties to promote the platform. Each layer may be imperfect on its own, but together they can materially raise the cost of operating outside the licensing regime.
Part of a wider European and US pattern
France is not acting in isolation. The source material says neighboring Spain has also ordered blocks on Polymarket and Kalshi while it investigates whether the sites violate local gambling laws. That suggests regulators across Europe are increasingly willing to test whether prediction markets belong inside existing gambling frameworks rather than treating them as a novel category exempt from traditional rules.
The pressure is not limited to Europe. In the United States, Minnesota has passed a bill banning prediction markets from operating in the state, while other states are pursuing lawsuits against Polymarket and Kalshi. The details differ by jurisdiction, but the direction is consistent: prediction markets are drawing more scrutiny as they become more visible and politically salient.
That matters because the sector has often benefited from regulatory ambiguity. Products framed as forecasting tools or event contracts can move quickly while lawmakers and agencies debate whether they should be governed like exchanges, sportsbooks, or something entirely new. France’s ISP-blocking order shows what happens when authorities decide the ambiguity has run its course.
What comes next for prediction markets
The immediate question is whether access blocks and financial restrictions will materially reduce French participation. The ANJ’s own rationale suggests earlier safeguards were porous. Network-level blocking may tighten enforcement, but determined users may still try to circumvent it. The larger issue is whether regulators can create enough friction to shrink local activity to a level they consider manageable.
For the industry, the French move is a warning that growth in lightly regulated markets can trigger harder intervention rather than eventual acceptance. High traffic can demonstrate demand, but it can also provide regulators with evidence that earlier measures failed and that more aggressive steps are justified.
For users, the decision is a reminder that access to digital wagering and forecasting platforms remains highly dependent on local law, even when the services themselves feel borderless. For policymakers, it offers a template: if payment blocks do not work, access restrictions and advertising penalties may follow.
France’s message is straightforward. Polymarket is not merely discouraged in the country; authorities are now using infrastructure-level controls to keep people from reaching it at all. Whether that becomes a durable model for other jurisdictions will depend on how effective the block proves to be, but the direction of travel is already clear.
This article is based on reporting by Engadget. Read the original article.
Originally published on engadget.com
