Indonesia blocks Polymarket as South Korea probes and Spain bans platform
Indonesia blocked access to Polymarket on May 25 after users placed bets on the possible early ouster of President Prabowo, with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs classifying the crypto-native prediction market as illegal online gambling. The move came the same day Spain's Consumer Rights Ministry issued a temporary ban on Polymarket and Kalshi for operating without required Spanish gaming licenses. Meanwhile, South Korea's Korea Communications Standards Commission opened a formal investigation on May 22 to determine whether Polymarket constitutes illegal gambling under domestic law, with a potential platform block hanging on the outcome. The three Asian and European actions add to existing scrutiny in India and a U.S. House Oversight probe demanding surveillance records by June 5.
Polymarket must now defend against simultaneous blocking in Indonesia, Spain, and prospective India action while a House Oversight probe demands surveillance records by June 5. Any consistent foreign enforcement template treating CFTC-regulated contracts as gambling weakens the platform's argument that U.S. federal oversight insulates it from overseas shutdowns.
Polymarket now faces active blocking or formal investigation in four jurisdictions — Spain, Indonesia, South Korea, and India — with each regulator treating its CFTC-registered contracts as unlicensed gambling rather than federally supervised derivatives, a pattern that directly undermines the platform's core argument that U.S. oversight should pre-empt foreign licensing demands.