France Orders ISPs to Block Polymarket: Gaming Regulator Tightens Its Stance
France has taken a new step in regulating crypto prediction markets. The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), the French regulator for gambling and games of chance, has officially ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to Polymarket, the world’s leading decentralized prediction market platform. This decision marks a significant escalation in the European crackdown on blockchain-based betting platforms.
Polymarket, which operates on the Polygon network and uses the Ethereum blockchain to record transactions, allows users to bet on the outcome of events ranging from political elections and bitcoin prices to sports results. The platform had already drawn the attention of U.S. regulators — the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Kalshi, a competitor, while examining Polymarket’s activities. But the French blockade represents the first direct enforcement measure by a European Union member state against the prediction market giant.
A Decision with Strong Legal Foundations
The ANJ’s decision is based on the French law of May 12, 2010, concerning the opening to competition and regulation of the online gambling sector. According to the regulator, Polymarket offers bets on random events without holding the license required by French legislation. Polymarket’s technical peculiarity — its decentralized operation via smart contracts on the blockchain — does not exempt it from the obligation to comply with French gambling law.
The ANJ specifically emphasized that the decentralized nature of the platform does not create a legal gray area. Under the principle of technological neutrality in European law, a gambling activity remains subject to regulation regardless of the technical medium used. Smart contracts automating payments via the blockchain do not change the fundamental nature of the activity: bets on uncertain events with stakes of money.
French telecom operators — Orange, Free, SFR, Bouygues Telecom — are now required to block access to the Polymarket site and its subdomains. ISPs have a few days to comply with this injunction, under penalty of financial sanctions. The blocking is carried out primarily through DNS blocking and, in some cases, deep packet inspection for more technical users who might try to circumvent the restriction via alternative DNS servers.
France Joins a European Trend
This French decision is part of a broader trend within the European Union. The Czech Republic had already blocked Polymarket a few weeks earlier, setting a regulatory precedent. Several other member states are currently examining the legal status of decentralized prediction markets under their national gambling laws.
At the European level, the question of crypto prediction markets raises complex issues. The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which came into force in 2024, governs crypto-assets but does not specifically address prediction platforms. These platforms sit at the intersection of several regulatory frameworks: gambling regulation, financial markets law (when the contracts offered resemble derivative instruments), and crypto-asset regulation.
The absence of a harmonized framework at the European level creates a regulatory patchwork. What is legal in one country may be prohibited in another, forcing platforms like Polymarket to navigate between jurisdictions with conflicting requirements. Some observers believe this situation argues in favor of a unified European regulation of prediction markets, along the lines of what MiCA has brought for stablecoins and crypto-asset service providers.
Impact on the French Crypto Ecosystem
The ANJ’s decision has immediate repercussions on the French crypto ecosystem. Polymarket had become a popular tool among crypto traders and analysts to assess the probabilities of various market scenarios — from the approval of bitcoin ETFs to Fed interest rate decisions and the price evolution of major cryptocurrencies.
The ISP blockage does not make Polymarket completely inaccessible to determined French users. VPNs (virtual private networks), browsers with built-in circumvention features (such as the stealth mode of certain crypto-native browsers), and direct access via IPFS nodes or alternative interfaces allow continued use of the platform. However, the general public — less familiar with these technical tools — will effectively be denied access.
This situation also raises questions about the digital sovereignty of French users. Unlike a traditional betting site that can simply close its access from France, Polymarket is a decentralized application (dApp): no one can “shut down” the smart contracts that run the platform. DNS blocking is therefore a technical circumvention measure, not a closure of the activity itself.
For French crypto developers and entrepreneurs, this decision sends a worrying signal. It suggests that French authorities are ready to aggressively apply existing laws to new decentralized technologies, potentially without waiting for lawmakers to adapt the legal framework to their specificities. Several French web3 startups have...
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