France orders nationwide ISP block of Polymarket as illegal gambling
France's gambling regulator ANJ ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket on July 16, calling the US-based prediction market platform unlicensed gambling. The nationwide ISP block follows hackers' compromise of a Meteo-France weather sensor to rig weather bets on the platform. The regulator also cited weak user verification and manipulation concerns. The order adds France to European jurisdictions restricting Polymarket access.
Polymarket must now choose between fighting the ANJ block in French courts or writing off French retail users entirely. The weather-sensor hack gave the regulator a concrete manipulation case to cite beyond product classification, making legal challenge harder. Unlike the Czech Republic's 15-day compliance window, France imposed no deadline, leaving the platform in indefinite limbo.
Each successive European blacklist shrinks the addressable market where Polymarket can operate without geofencing or local licensing. ESMA's July 3 warning that EU retail binary options rules already cover prediction-market contracts gave national regulators direct cover to act without new legislation. Rival platforms face identical product-classification risk across the EU.
France joins Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic in blacklisting Polymarket under EU retail binary options rules, making it the fourth European jurisdiction this month to treat CFTC-regulated event contracts as illegal gambling rather than exempt financial instruments.