{"id":10937,"date":"2026-07-20T12:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=10937"},"modified":"2026-07-20T12:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:09:11","slug":"france-orders-isps-to-block-polymarket-over-illegal-gambling-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=10937","title":{"rendered":"France Orders ISPs to Block Polymarket Over Illegal Gambling Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"blockquote-block_a74881c6d25db348f55251fc91d122b3\" class=\"blockquote-container\" style=\"border-color: #5100fc\">\n<div class=\"blockquote-text\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">French authorities have ordered internet providers to block Polymarket after determining it operates as an unauthorised gambling platform under national law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulators said existing restrictions were ineffective, with hundreds of thousands of visits recorded despite a financial transaction ban and VPN workarounds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">France joins a growing list of jurisdictions restricting the platform as authorities raise concerns about consumer protections and market integrity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>France has moved to block access to Polymarket after its gambling regulator concluded the prediction market is operating without the required authorisation under national gambling laws. Internet service providers were instructed on 16 July 2026 to prevent access to the website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The regulator said the platform promotes an illegal gambling offering and stated that advertising unauthorised gambling websites is a criminal offence punishable by fines of up to 100,000 euros (US$114,000 (AU$165,300)).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said previous action had not stopped French users from reaching the site. The regulator cited figures showing 578,751 visits from 205,057 unique visitors in France during June, adding that users were still able to bypass restrictions by using VPNs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authority also said Polymarket\u2019s homepage continued to advertise its services through continuously updated betting odds. It argued that prediction markets resemble regulated gambling products but lack safeguards such as stake limits and self-exclusion mechanisms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related: Farage\u2019s Undisclosed Benefactor: Convicted Fraudster Tied to Crypto Gambling Site<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-consumer-safeguards-under-scrutiny\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Consumer Safeguards Under Scrutiny\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regulators further pointed to concerns over possible manipulation of certain event contracts. They referenced weather-based markets in which weather sensors may have been hacked and said the Paris Public Prosecutor\u2019s cybercrime unit launched an investigation in May 2026 after identifying an absence of identity verification checks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision places France alongside several other jurisdictions that have restricted Polymarket, including Singapore, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, Brazil and Indonesia. Polymarket says it is currently geoblocked across 36 regions as regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets continues to expand globally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related: Australia Cracks Down on AI Data Centres With Mandatory Clean Energy Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>France,Gambling,Polymarket#France #Orders #ISPs #Block #Polymarket #Illegal #Gambling #Concerns1784549351<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>French authorities have ordered internet providers to block Polymarket after determining it operates as an unauthorised gambling platform under national law. Regulators said existing restrictions were ineffective, with hundreds of thousands of visits recorded despite a financial transaction ban and VPN workarounds. France joins a growing list of jurisdictions restricting the platform as authorities raise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1277,1977,2582,1387,2167,5596,2522,792],"class_list":["post-10937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bitcoin","tag-block","tag-concerns","tag-france","tag-gambling","tag-illegal","tag-isps","tag-orders","tag-polymarket"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>France Orders ISPs to Block Polymarket Over Illegal Gambling Concerns - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=10937\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France Orders ISPs to Block Polymarket Over Illegal Gambling Concerns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"French authorities have ordered internet providers to block Polymarket after determining it operates as an unauthorised gambling platform under national law. Regulators said existing restrictions were ineffective, with hundreds of thousands of visits recorded despite a financial transaction ban and VPN workarounds. 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