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Story: France Blocks Polymarket as ANJ Orders ISPs to Cut Access Over Illegal Gambling

By Sydney TheCMO

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What the ANJ Order Actually Means. French ISPs are now on the hook to implement the block.

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Prediction Markets and the Gambling Law Problem. The broader issue here isn't just Polymarket. Prediction markets as a category have been growing…

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What Comes Next for Polymarket in Europe. The ANJ's directive puts Polymarket in a tough spot, at least in France.

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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…

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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.

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Polymarket's model is pretty straightforward: users bet on whether something will happen — an election result, a policy decision, a market move.

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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…

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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.

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Polymarket hasn't publicly outlined any plan to restructure its operations to meet French legal requirements. Whether that changes now is anyone's guess.

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Read also: Warren Presses Trump Over $1.4B Crypto Stake Before Senate Vote

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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.

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France is one of the first major European markets to go this far with an ISP block specifically targeting a prediction market platform.

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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.

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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.

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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 —…

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