The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France's gambling authority, has instructed internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, labeling it an illegal gambling site instead of a trading platform. The regulator emphasized this directive is partly due to Polymarket's accessibility for French users, who were able to navigate around a ban on financial transactions imposed in November 2024. ANJ reported that in June 2026, Polymarket attracted 578,751 visits from over 205,000 unique users in France, despite the existing restrictions.
The authority contended that allowing access to Polymarket's homepage, which features information on live gambling platforms, contravenes laws against unauthorized gambling. Furthermore, ANJ mentioned an ongoing cybercrime investigation initiated by Météo-France, which connected questionable activities of temperature sensors to weather-related prediction markets.
As of February 2026, France declared prediction markets as illegal gambling. This action against Polymarket adds to a growing list of countries that are imposing restrictions on the platform. Currently, Polymarket faces regulatory scrutiny in over 30 nations, including Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, India, and Indonesia, as authorities increase their oversight of prediction markets.
