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France orders ISPs to block Polymarket after payments ban fails
On July 16, the president of France's National Gambling Authority ordered the country's internet service providers to block access to the prediction‑market site Polymarket after a November 2024 ban on payments to the site failed to stop users from reaching it.
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What happened
On July 16, the president of France’s National Gambling Authority ordered the country’s internet service providers to block access to the prediction‑market site Polymarket after a November 2024 ban on payments to the site failed to stop users from reaching it.
Confirmed
Global impact / market context
The block demonstrates that regulators can go beyond payment bans, creating extra compliance costs for crypto‑gambling platforms and raising the regulatory risk for investors in similar businesses, potentially significantly affecting their funding and growth plans.
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France is expanding its crackdown on online gambling that uses crypto, moving from blocking financial transfers to forcing internet providers to block the website itself. This shows regulators are willing to use technical tools to limit such services.
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What to watch
- Watch whether other European regulators adopt similar internet‑provider blocking orders against crypto‑based gambling sites, which could broaden the regulatory environment across the region. Analyst inference
- Observe Polymarket’s next steps, such as moving its services to jurisdictions without blocking rules or changing its product to comply with French restrictions. Analyst inference
- Monitor potential legal challenges from Polymarket or its users contesting the block as an infringement on internet access, which could lead to court decisions shaping future enforcement. Analyst inference