Polymarket to challenge French ISP block as unlicensed gambling site
France's gambling regulator blocked Polymarket on July 17 over gambling concerns, cutting off users ahead of the World Cup final. The regulator cited gambling losses, market manipulation, and insider trading. Polymarket said it was surprised and plans to mount a legal challenge, though it has not detailed its grounds. France reported 578,000 visits from French users in June. Polymarket is CFTC-registered, but European regulators are applying national gambling law instead.
Polymarket must now fight product classification on multiple European fronts at once. Each new blacklist shrinks the addressable market where it can serve retail users without geofencing. France acted without warning. Italy followed days later. The Czech block arrives on a fixed timeline. None leave room to restructure contracts or seek local licensing fast enough.
Rival platforms face the same risk. National regulators are treating event contracts as binary options outside financial exemptions. Polymarket's choice is narrowing toward expensive jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction litigation or abandoning EU retail users entirely. The cost of fighting rises with each new country.