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France blocks Polymarket
France’s gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket on July 16, treating the prediction market as an illegal gambling and betting offering rather than an authorized venue.
“On July 16, 2026, the president of France’s National Gambling Authority ordered French internet service providers to block access to the Polymarket website.”
The ANJ said Polymarket “attracts a particularly large audience” and that the site is “promoting an illegal gambling and betting offering,” according to a statement published on Friday.
The regulator said earlier restrictions had failed to keep French users away, citing Similarweb data that Polymarket drew 578,751 visits from 205,057 unique visitors in France in June.
CoinDesk reported that the ANJ had already placed a geoblock on financial transactions from French residents since November 2024, but that “A VPN was enough to bypass it.”
Le Monde reported that the ANJ ordered the blocking “to audiences particularly high” and said prediction sites are not authorized in France and are considered illegal gambling sites that expose users to risks including addiction and integrity.
Weather sensor case fuels
The ANJ tied its crackdown to a case involving weather-related bets, pointing to “the alleged manipulation of weather sensors at Roissy airport,” which it said prompted an investigation opened in May by the cybercrime section of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Le Monde reported that the regulator considered that “some bets proposed on this platform appeared to be rigged” and that the platform did not have in France “a system for identifying users in order to ensure their probity.”
CoinDesk said the ANJ also cited a complaint from France’s weather service, Météo-France, over a tampered temperature sensor tied to weather-based bets, and that the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit opened an investigation on May 4.
CoinDesk further reported that the ANJ pointed to a French trader known as “Fredi9999,” who moved U.S. election odds with multimillion-dollar positions in 2024.
Engadget described the ANJ’s latest move as a doubling down on preventative measures after the agency said Polymarket continued to grow in France by circumventing the earlier ban on transactions.
Fines, cross-border pressure
France’s regulator said anyone caught advertising an unauthorized betting or gambling site could be fined up to 100,000 euros, and Engadget said the ANJ emphasized that the platform is considered an illegal gambling site.
“could be fined up to 100,000 euros, or around $114,000.”
Le Monde reported that the site could nonetheless still be consulted on Friday afternoon with certain browsers, even after the ANJ ordered the blocking the previous day.
CoinDesk said France’s stance hardened in February 2026, when the ANJ reclassified prediction markets as illegal gambling, and it cited that last year France blocked 1,290 gambling-related URLs.
CoinDesk also listed other countries that have restricted Polymarket, including Switzerland blocking the site in November 2024, followed by Poland, Singapore and Belgium in early 2025, and Portugal moving in January 2026.
In Spain, Reuters said the government temporarily banned Polymarket and Kalshi while it investigates whether the sites break Spain’s gambling laws, and WTVB described regulators worldwide tightening oversight of prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
