French Regulator Orders ISP Block On Polymarket Access

France’s National Gambling Authority has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, putting the prediction-market platform back under regulatory pressure in one of Europe’s largest markets. The ANJ said its president issued the network-level blocking request on July 16. The regulator framed Polymarket as an illegal gambling operation and cited concerns including consumer addiction, lack of know-your-customer controls, and the potential manipulation of betting outcomes.

One example mentioned by the regulator involved weather data manipulation, which shows how broad the concern is. Prediction markets do not only cover elections or crypto prices. They can involve real-world outcomes where the line between forecasting, betting, and market influence becomes uncomfortable for regulators.

This is not an EU-wide ban. It is a French order. But it is still a warning shot for the prediction-market sector.

TL;DR France’s ANJ has ordered ISPs to block access to Polymarket. The regulator classified the platform as an illegal gambling operation. The action is specific to France, not a blanket European Union ban.

Prediction Markets Are Running Into Old Gambling Rules Prediction markets have always had a regulatory identity problem. Supporters describe them as information markets. Users trade on probabilities, and prices can reveal what the crowd believes about future events.

That can be useful, especially when markets are liquid and participants have strong incentives to be accurate. Regulators often see something much simpler: betting. A user puts money behind an outcome.

The outcome resolves. The user wins or loses. If that activity is offered to residents without local authorization, gambling regulators tend to get involved.

That is the tension Polymarket is facing in France. The platform may be crypto-native, global, and built around market pricing, but the ANJ is treating access through the lens of gambling law and consumer protection. For prediction mar