France has blocked access to Polymarket’s website, escalating what has been a slow-moving regulatory confrontation between one of crypto’s most popular prediction markets and one of Europe’s most active gambling regulators.
The move by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s gambling authority, effectively bars French residents from accessing the platform. It’s the culmination of an investigation that began in late 2024, when the regulator started questioning whether Polymarket’s operations amounted to unlicensed gambling under French law.
How we got here
That user, known publicly as “Théo” or by the handle Fredi9999, became the focal point of ANJ’s scrutiny in early November 2024. The trader’s massive profits from election-related prediction contracts raised uncomfortable questions for French authorities about whether their citizens were essentially gambling on a platform operating without local authorization.
Polymarket’s initial response was measured. In December 2024, the platform restricted French users to view-only mode, meaning they could browse markets but couldn’t place new trades.
