ANJ orders ISPs to block Polymarket over illegal gambling concerns

ANJ, France’s gambling regulator, has directed internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to the prediction market platform Polymarket, citing concerns over unauthorised gambling activities and associated public safety risks.

Thursday’s decisive action followed a comprehensive two-year investigation by ANJ into services operated by Adventure One (Polymarket’s parent)

How did we get here?

The president of the ANJ exercised administrative blocking powers to require French ISPs to restrict access to Polymarket’s website and its variants. The regulator asserted that these services constituted unlicensed games of chance and were therefore illegal under French law.

Polymarket, a platform offering event-based wagers on topics ranging from political outcomes to weather conditions via a prediction market format, had initially attracted the ANJ’s attention in November 2024 .

After receiving a formal warning, the operator introduced a geoblocking mechanism aimed at preventing French IP addresses from making transactions. However, this measure did not stop access entirely or prevent users from circumventing restrictions using technological means.

The regulator highlighted that Polymarket’s homepage, which publicly displayed dynamically updated odds for numerous events, had become a significant promotional channel attracting French users.

Data cited by the ANJ indicated that in June 2026 alone, Polymarket recorded 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique French visitors.

The concerns

The ANJ’s notice outlined several concerns underlying the blocking measure.

Firstly, prediction markets remained unauthorised in France and are treated as gambling activities. The ANJ stressed the risks related to addiction and market integrity in the absence of robust regulation.

Secondly, certain markets, such as wagers linked to weather data, raised suspicion of potential data manipulation. This prompted an investigation by the Paris public prosecutor’s cybercrime unit on 4 May 2026, which tasked the Office Anti-cybercriminalité (OFAC) to handle the case.

The regulator also criticised Polymarket’s failure to deploy effective know-your-customer (KYC) procedures to verify user identities and assess trustworthiness, which is a fundamental requirement under French and European regulations.

In addition, the public display of odds was deemed to be promotional activity. Under French law, promoting or disseminating odds for unlicensed gambling sites is a criminal offence punishable by fines up to €100,000 ($114,347).

This is not the first time the ANJ has employed administrative blocking. In 2025, the regulator reported blocking 1,290 URLs linked to illegal gambling services.

Last week, ANJ imposed a €500,000 fine on an unnamed online betting operator, referred to as Company X, for not adequately identifying and supporting customers exhibiting signs of problematic gambling.

The changing European scope

Across Europe, regulatory responses to prediction markets have varied but increasingly trend towards restrictive measures.

Countries including Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands , Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain , Ukraine and the Czech Republic have all recently imposed restrictions or access blocks on similar platforms.

In addition, nine European regulators announced a joint initiative targeting unlicensed prediction market platforms across the continent. Key among the regulator’s concerns were the risks to consumers when platforms could offer round-the-clock accessibility, despite there being no mandatory betting limits or cooling-off periods.

This, they said, increased the potential for gambling harm, especially among younger users.

Despite this, the Gibraltar government unveiled a formal framework last week to support its entry into the prediction markets vertical.

The framework sought to adopt an “activity-based and risk-based approach” to regulating prediction markets, according to the risks they present, inclu