France ordered ISPs to block Polymarket after a transaction ban failed to stop 578,751 monthly visits. The crackdown follows a hacked weather probe and a US soldier's alleged insider bets.
Alpha Score of 50 reflects moderate overall profile with moderate momentum, poor value, moderate quality, strong sentiment.
France told its internet service providers to block Polymarket on Friday, escalating past a November 2024 ban on financial transactions to the site. The national gaming authority ANJ said the prediction market would now be inaccessible on French territory.
Polymarket lets users bet on future events – elections, geopolitical developments, weather outcomes. ANJ said the site's continued availability in France, with odds updating in real time, effectively advertised an unauthorised betting operation. Advertising an unlicensed gambling site by any means is a criminal offence in France, carrying fines up to €100,000.
The transaction ban alone did not stop French punters. Traffic from French IP addresses hit 578,751 visits last month, ANJ said, evidence that users were finding ways around the restriction. The regulator escalated.
ANJ's move comes as prediction markets face a string of integrity questions. France's national weather service Météo-France filed a complaint in April after one of its weather probes was hacked, apparently to influence related Polymarket bets. Separately, a US soldier faces federal charges for allegedly using classified information to place bets on prediction markets tied to the January operation that captured former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, netting more than $400,000.
France is not alone. The ANJ noted that Germany, Italy and Spain also restrict or block access to online prediction markets. France still permits conventional online sports betting, drawing a line between regulated wagering and unauthorised platforms like Polymarket.
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