Nine European regulators say prediction markets breach national gambling laws

Regulators in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland have jointly said they will move against prediction markets that violate national gambling laws. Their main concern is not just legal classification but the way these platforms can spread quickly, draw in users, and sit outside the usual controls high-risk operators are expected to have.

1. The joint statement comes from nine regulators: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. They said they intend to act against prediction markets that breach national gambling legislation.
2. The regulators singled out the period around the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a particular risk. In their view, the visibility, accessibility, and viral nature of prediction platforms can create a significant cycle of addiction during a major sports event.
3. They also said these markets are linked to serious risks of illegal activity, blocking of funds, fraud based on insider information, and financial instability. For PSPs and acquirers, that is the sort of language that tends to turn into account reviews, enhanced due diligence, and sometimes faster exits than anyone planned.
4. According to the statement, prediction markets do not have the responsible-gambling systems common on traditional gambling platforms, including age checks and deposit and loss limits. That is the core compliance gap the regulators are pointing to: on paper they may look like trading-style products, but in practice the risk profile can still map onto gambling regulation.
5. Polymarket is already blocked in 7 of the 9 countries named in the statement. That makes the issue less theoretical and more operational: if a platform is already blocked in most of the jurisdictions involved, payment routing and merchant acceptance get harder rather than easier.