Indonesia blocks Polymarket after presidential early-exit markets trigger gambling ban
Indonesia blocked access to Polymarket on May 25, with regulators citing online gambling violations after the crypto-native prediction market listed contracts on whether President Prabowo Subianto would leave office before his term ends. Multiple sources confirm the government classified Polymarket as illegal online gambling, though no agency name, enforcement mechanism, or duration was disclosed. The ban was announced Monday, May 25, and reported widely by May 26. The action adds Indonesia to a growing roster of jurisdictions restricting the platform, following similar moves by Brazil and Argentina. Polymarket operates without local regulatory authorization in Indonesia.
Polymarket must now defend against active government blocking in four major markets — Indonesia, India, Spain, and Brazil — while any consistent foreign enforcement template treating its CFTC-regulated contracts as gambling weakens its core argument that U.S. federal oversight insulates it from overseas shutdowns.
Indonesia joins India, Spain, and prospective South Korean action in treating CFTC-registered event contracts as gambling operations subject to national blocking, with each new jurisdiction weakening the platforms' argument that U.S. federal oversight insulates them from overseas shutdowns.