Media: French regulator to block access to Polymarket

What’s new? The French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) intends to close access to the largest decentralized cryptocurrency prediction market, Polymarket, reports The Big Whale. Polymarket attracted a lot of attention in the run-up to the US elections: the volume of trades related to the outcome of this event on this platform approached $4 billion.

Material by The Big Whale

What else is known? A source close to the ANJ notes that betting platforms are illegal in France, and Polymarket is no exception, despite the fact that it operates on the blockchain and uses cryptocurrencies in its activities.

After Donald Trump won the US presidential election, Lookonchain analysts reported three major accounts on Polymarket — Theo4, Fredi9999, and zxgngl — that earned $20,4 million, $15,6 million, and $11 million, respectively, thanks to bets in his favor.

It is noteworthy that earlier the Polymarket team, following an internal investigation, found out that the accounts of Theo4 and Fredi9999 belonged to one experienced trader from France. The reason for its conduct was rumors of manipulation on the platform, and the team also sought to weed out users from the United States.

According to The Big Whale, it was the activities of this trader that caught the attention of the regulator.

Theo gave an interview to WSJ last week, but the journalists did not reveal his identity. At the time, he noted that he was betting with his own funds and did not seek to artificially create momentum in favor of Trump.

Polymarket was launched in 2020 on Polygon Layer 2 (L2) network on the Ethereum blockchain, backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. It has raised $74 million since its launch, with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin as one of the investors.

In 2022, under pressure from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the platform stopped serving US users but retained its headquarters in New York. Meanwhile, other prediction markets, including Kalshi and Robinhood, were launched in the United States after the legalization of election betting by a related court ruling in a case against the CFTC, which was handed down in September 2024.

Polymarket allows users to buy “shares” in the outcome of political and sporting events or predict future prices of financial assets and receive one USDC stablecoin per share if the prediction comes true.

Polymarket operates on blockchain: users place bets using cryptocurrencies without intermediaries. The company is responsible for offering events for betting, but in the future, this aspect could be decentralized through the launch of a native token.

The publication’s interlocutor, ORWL Avocats partner William O’Rorke notes that Polymarket’s activities fall under the definition of gambling and the platform can be blocked in France even though it does not specifically target local users.

He added that the ANJ could block the domain name in France and even put pressure on media outlets that spread references to Polymarket in their stories.

However, getting around the blocking will be possible with a VPN, as Polymarket does not require users to provide their identity to create an account (only a crypto wallet).

The ANJ itself confirmed that it is currently examining the Polymarket website for compliance with gambling legislation.