Czech Republic adds Polymarket to its unauthorised games list and orders ISP blocking within 15 days

The Czech Ministry of Finance has officially put Polymarket on its list of unauthorised internet games, which means internet service providers in the country must block access within 15 days. For high-risk operators and PSPs, the message is straightforward: if a product is treated as betting under local law, calling it a “contract” does not buy much room.

1. The ministry said Polymarket’s offering falls under unauthorised gambling activities under Czech law. The blocking order was announced on Tuesday and follows the national rule that access to listed sites must be restricted within 15 days.
2. Officials cited research projecting that Polymarket will handle approximately $220 billion in volume in 2025, with monthly turnover estimated at between $10 billion and $11 billion. That scale is exactly why regulators are no longer treating prediction markets as a niche curiosity.
3. Two issues kept coming up: the possibility of outcome manipulation and the misuse of non-public information. The ministry and the Czech trade body, the Institute for Gambling Regulation, both pointed to the fact that users are betting on real-world events without the standard player-protection framework that applies to legal gambling.
4. Jan Řehola, director of the Institute for Gambling Regulation, said that if a product functions as betting, it should be regulated as such. He added that player protection, anti-money laundering controls and market supervision should not depend on what an operator chooses to call its product.
5. The Czech decision fits into a wider European pattern. In the last couple of years, regulators in Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine have restricted or blocked access to Polymarket, while the Netherlands’ Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) ordered the platform to cease operations from 17 February and is now sanctioning it after a late compliance and an appeal.

For PSPs and acquiring teams, the practical takeaway is not subtle: decentralised architecture, blockchain rails and low-friction onboarding do not exempt a product from gambling treatment once a regulator decides the activity is betting on uncertain outcomes.