France Blocks Polymarket, 30 Nations Follow Suit, Sparking EU Regulatory Clash

Woofun AI reports that France’s National Gambling Authority (ANJ) has mandated all domestic internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, a platform enabling cryptocurrency bets on real-world event outcomes. This directive, issued on July 16, represents a decisive escalation in a four-year regulatory struggle, shifting the classification of the platform from a potential financial trading venue to an entity engaged in illegal gambling operations. The ANJ’s stance prioritizes consumer rights protection over financial market stability, placing Polymarket in the same regulatory category as unlicensed online casinos and sports betting sites. This distinction is legally significant, as it subjects the platform to stricter enforcement mechanisms than those applied to unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, thereby establishing a new precedent for how prediction markets are treated under European law.

The regulatory timeline reveals a pattern of escalating measures after initial restrictions failed to curb usage. In November 2024, France had already banned domestic users from conducting financial transactions with Polymarket, but this prohibition proved ineffective in stopping access. The ANJ cited data from traffic analysis platform Similarweb, which indicated that in June 2026 alone, the platform attracted 205,057 unique visitors in France, generating a total of 578,751 visits. Users routinely bypassed the financial transfer restrictions by utilizing virtual private networks (VPNs), rendering the earlier ban largely symbolic. Consequently, the authority concluded that only a direct block of the website domain could achieve effective control, leading to the current ISP-level restriction.

Regulators also pointed to specific instances of data manipulation as justification for the ban. Météo-France, the national meteorological agency, filed a complaint alleging that individuals had manipulated temperature sensor data to influence weather-related prediction contracts on Polymarket. In response, the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into this matter on May 4.

Additionally, authorities focused on a French trader using the account name "Fredi9999", who was accused of artificially altering betting odds related to the 2024 U.S. election through large-scale position holding. This trader is now under investigation by French authorities, highlighting the platform’s vulnerability to market manipulation.

As early as February 2026, the French National Gambling Authority had reclassified prediction markets as illegal gambling, arguing that platforms like Polymarket lacked essential risk protection mechanisms required by legitimate French gambling institutions. These missing safeguards include betting amount limits and user self-exclusion options, which are deemed necessary to ensure consumer safety. The absence of these features led regulators to view the platform as inherently harmful to ordinary users, rather than as a neutral financial instrument. This perspective underscores the ANJ’s focus on preventing addiction and protecting vulnerable consumers, aligning its approach with regulations targeting gaming apps and other gray-area gambling products.

Woofun AI data shows, France is not acting in isolation; more than 30 countries and regions worldwide have implemented controls against Polymarket. Switzerland was the first to block the website in November 2024, followed by Poland, Singapore, and Belgium in early 2025. Portugal introduced regulatory measures in January 2026, while Spain issued a temporary blocking order and launched an investigation in May of the same year. Other nations, including Brazil, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Italy, Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine, have also introduced relevant restriction policies.

However, France stands out as the largest economy in the EU and the first member state to require all national operators to uniformly block the website, signaling a more aggressive stance than its peers.

The core of the conflict lies in how prediction markets are classified under the EU’s Regulatory Framework for Crypto-Assets (MiCA). By categorizing Polymarket as a gambling product rather than a financial instrument or information service, France’s approach directly contradicts the MiCA framework, which aims to regulate crypto-assets within the financial system. If other EU member states adopt France’s reasoning, crypto prediction markets could be banned across the EU under gambling laws, bypassing the financial market regulations that MiCA seeks to establish. This divergence creates a significant regulatory rift, challenging the harmonization efforts of the EU and potentially fragmenting the market for prediction platforms.

This regulatory shift poses a direct threat to compliant competitors like Kalshi, a prediction market regulated by the CFTC in the United States. Kalshi is currently expanding its business among U.S. institutions and plans to enter the European market.

However, if the EU uniformly classifies such platforms as gambling projects, Kalshi’s expansion plans will face substantial obstacles. The issue is not merely about access; rather, it concerns the platform’s regulatory status and brand image, which would become fundamentally disconnected from its operations in the United States. This misalignment could undermine Kalshi’s credibility and hinder its ability to operate seamlessly across borders.

France now serves as a critical test case for EU regulation. If the ISP blocking measures significantly reduce local access traffic, and if the data manipulation case involving Météo-France leads to prosecutions, other EU regulatory agencies will likely refer to this case when formulating their own control strategies. The outcome will determine whether prediction markets are treated as financial instruments or gambling products across the EU, with far-reaching implications for the industry. This marks a pivotal moment for global crypto regulation, as the EU’s response will influence how other jurisdictions approach similar platforms.