France to block access to Polymarket prediction market

France said on Friday that it is blocking access to the online prediction market Polymarket, saying people continued to bet through the site despite an existing ban on financial transactions from French accounts.

The national gaming authority, ANJ, said Polymarket's webpage would be blocked in France. The measure adds to a November 2024 ban on financial transactions to the site.

Polymarket is an online prediction market that lets users bet on the outcome of future events, with odds updated in real time. The ANJ said the site's continued availability in France amounted to advertising for an unauthorised betting or gambling service. It said advertising for such a site is a criminal offence and that fines can reach 100,000 euros, or about $114,000.

The regulator said visits from French internet addresses to Polymarket have continued to rise despite the transaction ban, reaching 578,751 last month.

The report also cited several recent problems linked to prediction markets. Meteo-France filed a complaint in April after one of its weather probes was hacked in order to fix bets on Polymarket. A US soldier is facing federal charges over allegations that he used classified information to bet on online prediction markets linked to a January US operation to capture former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, allegedly making more than $400,000. The White House said on Thursday that a teleprompter operator had been suspended over allegations that he placed bets with a prediction market on the content of US President Donald Trump's speeches.

According to the ANJ, France is among several European countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain, that restrict or block access to online prediction markets. France allows online sports betting.