France has ordered internet providers to block access to Polymarket, a US-based online prediction platform, after the country's national gaming authority determined that the site's homepage constituted illegal advertising. The regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), issued the order on 16 July, extending an earlier ban on financial transactions with the site that had been in place since November 2024. Despite that ban, French internet users were still able to browse the platform, and visits had been climbing steadily — reaching 578,751 in June alone.
Polymarket, launched in 2020, allows users to place bets on the outcome of virtually any real-world event, from elections and court verdicts to geopolitical conflicts and celebrity deaths. Unlike conventional sports betting, where the timing of an event is fixed, Polymarket's appeal lies in its highly speculative nature: low-probability outcomes can offer large returns, which critics warn also creates significant addiction risks. Under France's internal security code, gambling and games of chance are broadly prohibited, with limited exceptions for casinos and sports betting — exceptions that have not been extended to platforms like Polymarket. The ANJ argued that the site's live, dynamically updated odds constituted a form of hidden advertising for an unauthorised service, making its continued visibility a criminal matter. Fines for advertising an unlicensed gambling site can reach €100,000 (around $114,000).
The decision comes against a backdrop of growing controversy surrounding prediction markets globally. In April, French weather agency Météo-France filed a criminal complaint after one of its meteorological probes was allegedly hacked in order to manipulate weather-related bets on Polymarket. In the United States, a soldier is facing federal charges for allegedly using classified information to bet on markets linked to a January military operation targeting former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, reportedly netting over $400,000. More recently, the White House announced the suspension of a teleprompter operator accused of placing bets on the content of President Donald Trump's speeches — a case that has raised fresh questions about insider access and market integrity.
Although French users can still circumvent the block using a VPN — a tool that masks a device's location — legal experts note that criminal liability falls on platform operators rather than individual bettors. France joins Germany, Italy, and Spain in restricting or banning access to such platforms. The ANJ's escalating response reflects a broader tension between the rapid growth of decentralised, blockchain-based prediction markets and existing national gambling frameworks — a tension regulators across Europe are increasingly being forced to confront.