- France’s gambling regulator has ordered internet service providers to block the Polymarket website, going beyond an earlier restriction on transactions from French territory.
- The regulator cited Similarweb data showing 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors from France in June 2026.
- The order targets the website and its interface rather than Polymarket’s settlement contracts on Polygon, which shows where national authorities can exert leverage.
France’s Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) has directed the country’s access providers to block the main Polymarket website, expanding a previous measure that restricted financial transactions from French territory. The regulator said that earlier control had been bypassed in practice and that the platform still promoted what it considers an unauthorized gambling offering. The order was published on July 17, 2026.
What Happened
The ANJ’s notice presents the blocking order as the next step in a case it opened against the operator, Adventure One QSS Inc., a Panamanian company the regulator identified as running Polymarket. The regulator first approached the company in November 2024, after concluding that the platform’s services could fall under French gambling law. Adventure One then introduced a geoblock, which the ANJ initially described as preventing bets from France.
According to the regulator, that restriction stopped new financial transactions but did not stop users from reaching the site. The Polymarket homepage continued to display live odds to a large French audience. The ANJ argued that these dynamically updated prices functioned as a promotional channel for an activity it regards as illegal. Citing Similarweb, it reported 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors from France in June 2026, figures that informed its decision to move from transaction limits to a website block.
The legal route used is Article 61 of French law. After statutory notice and response periods, the ANJ can instruct access providers to prevent access to specified illegal online interfaces and require search engines and directories to stop listing them. The regulator said it used this process to block 1,290 URLs connected to illegal gambling in 2025.
Why It Matters
The case illustrates a practical limit on the idea that an onchain prediction market sits beyond national jurisdiction. Settlement can take place on a blockchain, but most mainstream users still find markets, view prices and submit orders through a website and operator-controlled systems. When those layers are restricted, participation can fall even if the underlying contracts keep running.
For investors and traders, the distinction is important. A block on access providers affects how easily ordinary French users can reach the platform, not whether the on-chain components exist. Users who already hold positions may be affected differently from those seeking to open new ones, since the restriction on new activity is the element most directly tied to the ANJ’s measures.
For the wider crypto market, the decision signals that regulators may judge a platform by its visible offering, including interface design, live odds and distribution, rather than only by where transactions are completed. That reading could affect how other decentralized or hybrid prediction markets design their front ends and compliance programs.
Market Context
The ANJ’s position was set out more fully in a February 2026 policy statement. In that document, the regulator classified prediction markets as unauthorized gambling in France and said they combine continuous access and viral distribution with fewer protections than licensed operators. It cited addiction and integrity risks, along with the absence of identity and age verification, as reasons for restricting access.
Polymarket’s own documentation describes a hybrid structure. Its central limit order book matches orders off-chain, while matched trades settle atomically through an exchange contract on Polygon. The platform says trading is non-custodial. Its geographic restrictions page lists France as close-only on both the front end and the API, meaning users may close existing positions but cannot open new ones. Geographic eligibility is checked through an IP verification process hosted on polymarket.com.
Europe’s response is uneven. The ANJ identified 12 European jurisdictions that it said had restricted or blocked prediction markets: Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Spain offers a recent comparison. On May 26, 2026, its Directorate General for Gambling Regulation ordered the Polymarket and Kalshi websites blocked as an interim measure while it pursued proceedings over possible unlicensed gambling. The Spanish regulator emphasized licensing, identity verification, protections for minors and self-exclusion tools.
What to Watch Next
- Changes to Polymarket’s front end: Any modification to its homepage, odds display or French access controls will show how the operator responds to the order.
- Enforcement under Article 61: Readers should monitor whether French access providers implement the block and whether search engines and directories remove references to the platform.
- Further national actions: Additional measures in the 12 jurisdictions the ANJ listed, or elsewhere in Europe, would indicate whether a patchwork of national restrictions is hardening.
- Licensing and verification: The regulators’ emphasis on identity checks, age controls and licensed entry suggests that compliance requirements for prediction markets could become more detailed.
The central question is whether prediction markets can keep mainstream access while meeting national gambling rules. France’s action suggests that a transaction-only restriction may not satisfy regulators who view visible odds and audience reach as part of the gambling offer.
Source: original report
