France's gambling regulator has directed internet service providers to geoblock access to Polymarket, the decentralized prediction market platform. The order cites illegal gambling activity and market manipulation concerns. France joins a short list of jurisdictions that have moved against prediction markets at the infrastructure level, targeting access rather than the platform itself.
Prediction markets sit at the intersection of crypto and regulated financial activity, making them an early target when regulators want to draw lines. A successful ISP-level block in France sets a template other European regulators can copy, which raises the compliance cost and political risk for any protocol in this space. Polymarket itself has no France-listed token, but broader sentiment toward decentralized prediction markets and associated infrastructure will take a hit.
No fixed date: watch for any European Union-level response or guidance from other national gambling regulators, particularly in Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, which have active enforcement postures on online gambling.
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