French gambling authority, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has directed internet service providers to prevent access to Polymarket, categorizing it as an illegal gambling platform as opposed to a trading service.
According to the regulator, the requirement was also put in place because Polymarket made itself available to French citizens who were able to sidestep the ban placed on the financial transactions in the country in November 2024. Figures released by ANJ revealed that there were 578,751 visits to the website in June 2026 from more than 205,000 unique users in France despite being subjected to restrictive measures.
Furthermore, the French authority argued allowing Polymarket’s homepage that provides information on live gambling platforms goes against the law, which prohibits unauthorized gambling.
In addition to this, the regulatory authority pointed to an ongoing cybercrime investigation that was initiated by Météo-France which alleged dubious activities of temperature sensors that were linked to weather-based prediction markets.
France declared prediction markets illegal gambling as of February 2026. The decision of blocking Polymarket adds France to a growing list of jurisdictions restricting Polymarket.
Polymarket now faces regulatory action in more than 30 countries, including Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina, India and Indonesia, as regulators continue to tighten oversight of prediction markets.
