France orders ISPs to block Polymarket as ANJ treats prediction markets as illegal gambling

France’s Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) has told internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, putting prediction markets squarely in the same bucket as unauthorized gambling in the regulator’s view. For PSPs and high-risk operators, the useful bit is not the block itself but the regulatory logic underneath it: if a platform is deemed gambling, the bar for authorization, advertising, and identity checks changes fast.

1. The ANJ said in a Friday press release that prediction websites are considered illegal gambling in France, and that Polymarket is not authorized to operate in the country. The regulator also said that advertising unauthorized gambling sites is a criminal offense, with fines of up to 100,000 euros ($114,000).
2. Polymarket’s model is the standard prediction-market one: users buy and sell contracts tied to future outcomes, including elections, sporting events, economic data, and geopolitical developments. That has helped the platform rack up billions of dollars in trading volume over the past two years, while also putting it on the radar of regulators deciding whether these contracts are gambling or unlicensed financial products.
3. France is not treating this as a one-off. The ANJ first said in November 2024 that it planned to block the platform for failing to comply with national gambling laws. The current order follows that line, not a sudden change of heart.
4. The regulator also pointed to “addictive features” that it said resemble regulated gambling products, but without the “protective mechanisms found in the legal gambling market.” It additionally cited possible outcome manipulation on some Polymarket contracts, saying weather-related bets appeared to be rigged and that weather sensors may have been hacked.
5. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office cybercrime unit launched an investigation in May 2026 and found a lack of identity verification, including Know Your Customer checks. That detail matters for any payments team: once KYC is missing or weak, the platform is no longer just a licensing question, it becomes a fraud and AML problem as well.

France joins a long list of jurisdictions that have blocked access to Polymarket, including Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, Brazil and Indonesia. At press time, Polymarket said it was geoblocked in 36 regions. In the US, prediction markets are also facing pressure: Kentucky sued five platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, on June 17, and at least 17 other states have followed suit.