France’s gambling authority has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based prediction market platform, after an earlier geoblocking measure proved insufficient. The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) published the order on July 17, 2026, citing that Polymarket’s website promoted unauthorized gambling under French law, despite a transaction restriction imposed in November 2024.
The ANJ revealed that in June 2026 alone, the site attracted 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors from France, many of whom could still view live odds on the homepage. The regulator argued that displaying dynamically updated probabilities constitutes indirect advertising for illegal gambling. After statutory notice and response periods, Article 61 of French law empowered the ANJ to compel access providers and search engines to block the interface, a mechanism already used to restrict over 1,290 URLs in 2025.
The escalation underscores a critical limit to on-chain market immunity: while trades settle via Polygon’s smart contracts, mainstream users still depend on the operator’s website and order-matching infrastructure to discover and submit positions. France’s block targets that distribution layer rather than the blockchain itself. Polymarket lists France as “close-only” on both front end and API, but the ISP block effectively severs the commercial pathway for ordinary users.
Timing compounded the impact. The order came just days before the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, which became Polymarket’s highest-volume contract ever, exceeding $4 billion in traded interest. The ANJ further noted that 12 other European jurisdictions, including Germany, Spain, and Italy, have also restricted or blocked prediction markets, creating a patchwork of national enforcement that challenges platforms reliant on a single website interface.
The regulator classified prediction markets as unauthorized gambling, citing addiction risks, lack of age and identity checks, and absence of consumer safeguards. Licensed sports betting operators remain available in France, but Polymarket’s model—where outcome shares function like decentralized exchange instruments—was deemed outside the law. While tech-savvy users may turn to VPNs, the move signals a hardening stance against offshore platforms that bypass local licensing.
