France's gambling regulator orders ISPs to block Polymarket
France's gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket. The regulator labeled the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform an illegal gambling site. The action extends a November 2024 transaction ban that French users had continued to bypass. The ANJ cited concerns over addictive mechanics, a lack of self-exclusion tools, and a high volume of French users circumventing prior restrictions.
Polymarket must now fight product classification on another European front. France rejects its CFTC-regulated status and applies national gambling law instead. The order came without warning or negotiation window. It leaves no room for the platform to restructure contracts or seek local licensing fast enough. Each blacklist shrinks the addressable market where Polymarket can serve retail users without geofencing.
Rival platforms face identical risk. National regulators are treating event contracts as binary options outside financial exemptions. Polymarket's choice is now fight everywhere or abandon EU retail entirely. The cost of fighting rises with each new jurisdiction. The French and Czech actions together signal a coordinated EU gambling-regulator position on event contracts.
France joins the Czech Republic in applying national gambling blacklists to Polymarket, making it the second EU member state this month to order a complete ISP block of the platform rather than accept its CFTC-regulated status.