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France’s gambling regulator just pulled the plug on Polymarket. The Autorité Nationale des Jeux — known as the ANJ — has ordered French internet service providers to block access to the prediction market platform, citing illegal gambling operations.
The move didn’t come out of nowhere. The ANJ had already put Polymarket on notice back in November 2024, issuing a formal warning about its activities. That warning apparently didn’t produce the compliance the regulator wanted. So on Friday, the ANJ escalated — directing ISPs to obstruct access entirely. The platform, which lets users place speculative trades on the outcomes of real-world events, sits in an awkward regulatory space that French authorities have decided to classify squarely as gambling. And under French law, that classification carries real consequences.
Not a soft warning this time.
Polymarket’s model is pretty straightforward: users bet on whether something will happen — an election result, a policy decision, a market move. The platform gained serious traction globally, particularly around major political events. But that same model is what put it in the ANJ’s crosshairs. French regulators see the structure of these trades as functionally indistinguishable from gambling, regardless of how the platform frames them. The risk of market manipulation was also flagged as a specific concern in the ANJ’s communications around the block order.
What the ANJ Order Actually Means
French ISPs are now on the hook to implement the block. The mechanics of that are still pending — it’s unclear exactly when the cutoff takes effect or how comprehensive the technical enforcement will be. What is clear is that the ANJ wants Polymarket inaccessible to users in France, and it’s using the ISP-level block as the tool to get there.
That’s a pretty blunt instrument. ISP-level blocks are typically reserved for platforms that have ignored regulatory warnings and show no sign of adjusting. The ANJ’s decision to go this route, rather than pursue fines or further negotiations, seems to say something about how those conversations went — or didn’t go. No details from the ANJ on what, if any, response Polymarket offered after the November 2024 warning.
Polymarket hasn’t publicly outlined any plan to restructure its operations to meet French legal requirements. Whether that changes now is anyone’s guess.
Prediction Markets and the Gambling Law Problem
The broader issue here isn’t just Polymarket. Prediction markets as a category have been growing fast, and regulators across multiple jurisdictions are basically playing catch-up. The traditional definitions of gambling were written before platforms like this existed. You’ve got speculative trading layered on top of event outcomes, settled in crypto, running on decentralized infrastructure — and regulators are trying to fit that into legal frameworks designed for casinos and sports books.
France is one of the first major European markets to go this far with an ISP block specifically targeting a prediction market platform. The ANJ’s action probably won’t be the last of its kind. Other European regulators have been watching how these platforms operate, and the French move sets a visible precedent.
That’s the part that matters beyond just Polymarket’s French user base. If the ISP block holds and doesn’t generate significant legal pushback, other regulators have a roadmap. If it gets challenged in court — and it might — then the legal battle itself becomes the story.
The ANJ has been clear that its goal is to protect consumers from unregulated gambling activity and to maintain the integrity of the markets it oversees. Blocking Polymarket fits that framing. Whether the block actually works as intended is a separate question. VPN usage tends to spike after these kinds of enforcement actions, and determined users generally find workarounds. The ANJ probably knows that. The block may be as much about establishing legal precedent and regulatory posture as it is about genuinely cutting off access.
What Comes Next for Polymarket in Europe
The ANJ’s directive puts Polymarket in a tough spot, at least in France. Adapting to French gambling law would likely require significant changes to how the platform operates — licensing, compliance infrastructure, potentially restricting certain types of markets. It’s not obvious that Polymarket wants to go down that road, and there’s been no public signal that it does.
For now, French users are waiting on ISPs to execute the block. The timeline for that implementation isn’t specified. And Polymarket’s next move — legal challenge, operational adjustment, or silence — remains unclear.
What the ANJ did make clear is that it’s been watching Polymarket for months, that the November 2024 warning was a genuine ultimatum, and that Friday’s order is the follow-through. The regulator framed the block as part of a broader effort to bring predictive market platforms inside the legal boundaries governing gambling in France.
The ISP block on Polymarket is the ANJ’s most direct enforcement action against a prediction market platform to date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did France’s ANJ block Polymarket?
The ANJ ordered French ISPs to block Polymarket because it classified the platform’s prediction market operations as illegal gambling under French law, also citing risks of market manipulation.
When did the ANJ first warn Polymarket?
The ANJ issued its initial warning to Polymarket in November 2024, cautioning the platform about non-compliance with French gambling regulations before escalating to the ISP block order.
