The French gambling regulator, ANJ, has instructed internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to Polymarket, a prediction market platform, due to concerns over unauthorized gambling practices and potential risks to public safety.
This directive, issued on a Thursday, follows a comprehensive investigation that spanned two years and scrutinized the operations of Adventure One, Polymarket's parent company.
In exercising its authority, the ANJ utilized its administrative blocking powers, mandating French ISPs to prevent users from accessing Polymarket's website and its variants. The regulator asserted that the services offered by Polymarket qualify as unlicensed games of chance, making them illegal under French law.
Polymarket allows users to place bets on various events, including political outcomes and weather forecasts, and drew the ANJ's scrutiny in November 2024. Following an initial warning from the regulator, Polymarket attempted to introduce a geoblocking feature to restrict transactions from French IP addresses. However, this effort did not effectively eliminate access, and users were still able to bypass these limitations using various technologies.
The ANJ noted that Polymarket's homepage prominently featured dynamically updated odds for numerous events, significantly attracting French users. In June 2026, the platform reported an impressive 578,751 visits, with 205,057 of those coming from unique French visitors.
The ANJ's justification for the blocking order highlighted multiple concerns. First, prediction markets are unauthorized in France and are classified as gambling activities, which raises issues related to addiction and market integrity without adequate regulation. Additionally, certain wagers, such as those tied to weather conditions, raised alarms about possible data manipulation, leading the Paris public prosecutor's cybercrime unit to investigate on May 4, 2026. They tasked the Office Anti-cybercriminalité (OFAC) with the case.
The regulator also pointed out that Polymarket had not implemented effective know-your-customer (KYC) processes, which are mandatory under French and European law for verifying user identities. Furthermore, the public display of betting odds was considered a promotional act, a violation of French law that can result in fines of up to €100,000 (approximately $114,347) for promoting unauthorized gambling services.
This is not ANJ's first instance of using administrative blocking, as it blocked 1,290 URLs connected to illegal gambling services in 2025. Recently, the ANJ fined an unnamed online betting operator, Company X, €500,000 for failing to provide adequate support and identification for customers showing signs of gambling issues.
On a broader scale, European jurisdictions have had varying responses to prediction markets, generally leaning toward restrictions. Countries including Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic recently implemented access blocks or other restrictions on similar platforms.
In a coordinated effort, nine European regulators launched a joint initiative against unlicensed prediction market platforms, citing concerns about consumer safety amid unrestricted accessibility, particularly for younger users. Despite these tightening measures, the Gibraltar government recently introduced a framework to facilitate its entrance into the prediction markets sector, advocating for a risk-based and activity-based regulatory approach focused on issues such as market integrity, consumer protection, and financial crime prevention.
Kathryn Evans covers breaking news, focusing mainly on EMEA and US legislation. She is a native of North Wales, speaks Welsh fluently, and is a longtime supporter of Wrexham FC.
