Full story
France blocks Polymarket
France’s National Gambling Authority, the ANJ, ordered French internet service providers to block access to Polymarket on July 16, treating the prediction market as an illegal, unlicensed gambling and betting operation.
“France orders country's internet service providers to block Polymarket The regulator cited concerns over addictive mechanics, a lack of self-exclusion tools, and a high volume of French users bypassing previous financial restrictions”
The ANJ said the block would stay in place as long as Polymarket remained outside French gambling rules, after an earlier warning in November 2024.
The ANJ’s action followed a case in which a single sensor at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport became the settlement point for daily temperature bets, and automated readings spiked by 4 degrees Celsius on April 6 and 5 on April 15.
Bloomberg reported that the April sensor spikes became the highest readings for the day, and CNN reported that one Polymarket user won $14,000 on the April 6 market after the sensor hit 22 degrees Celsius.
Regulator cites ads and odds
The ANJ said Polymarket’s webpage would be blocked on French territory because the site’s continued availability, where betting odds are updated in real time, constituted advertising.
France’s regulator warned that "Advertising, by any means whatsoever, in favour of an unauthorised betting or gambling site is a criminal offence," and noted fines could reach 100,000 euros ($114,000).
CoinDesk reported that the ANJ said the homepage "dynamically displays real-time odds" and serves as a major channel for disseminating and promoting Polymarket’s offerings.
CoinDesk also said the ANJ cited a complaint from France’s weather service, Météo-France, after a tampered temperature sensor tied to weather-based bets prompted the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit to open an investigation on May 4.
Broader crackdown and fallout
The ANJ said Polymarket drew 578,751 visits from French internet addresses in June, even after a November 2024 ban on financial transactions, and France’s regulator moved to block the site itself.
“France's gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ),orderedinternet service providers to block Polymarket on July 16, treating the prediction market as an illegal gambling site rather than a financial trading venue”
CoinDesk reported that a VPN was enough to bypass the earlier transaction restrictions, while the ANJ said the real-time odds display promoted an unauthorized gambling service.
Across Europe and the United States, the France action fits into a wider regulatory push, with CoinDesk saying Switzerland blocked the site in November 2024 and Spain issued a temporary block in May pending a probe.
In the U.S., CoinDesk said Kentucky sued five prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, on June 17, and that at least 17 other states had followed suit.
