Polymarket Plans to Fight France’s Nationwide Website Ban in Court
Polymarket has announced it will challenge France’s decision to block access to its website, calling the move sudden and unjustified.
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The French gambling regulator, Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), ordered internet service providers to block the platform on July 16, treating it as an illegal gambling site rather than a financial trading venue.
In its statement, Polymarket said it had already blocked trading from France since late 2024 but continued to allow users to view markets for informational purposes.
“We were therefore surprised at the ANJ decision to block access to our entire website because their measure targets people going to Polymarket purely for information, not to trade,” the company said. It added, “We are proud that most people come to Polymarket solely to learn the probability of future events relevant to their everyday life with no intention to trade. Prediction markets help source truth.”
Polymarket stressed that it does not act like a gambling operator, noting that its blockchain‑based markets are peer‑to‑peer and that it “holds no position in any market and does not profit from any outcome.”
France hardens stance as global restrictions grow
The ANJ explained that Polymarket remained accessible to French users even after financial transactions were banned in November 2024.
According to data cited by the regulator, the site recorded more than 578,000 visits from over 205,000 unique French users in June alone. Officials argued that the homepage still displayed live markets and odds, which they considered a promotion of unauthorized gambling. The regulator warned that fines could reach €100,000.
France reclassified prediction markets as illegal gambling in February 2026, citing addictive mechanics and the absence of stake limits or self‑exclusion tools. The latest block adds to a broader crackdown, with France having already blocked more than 1,200 gambling‑related URLs last year.
Polymarket now faces restrictions in over 30 jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Italy, Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Ukraine.
The company says it remains committed to constructive engagement with regulators, including ongoing talks with the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, while preparing to fight the French ban in court.
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