France to block Polymarket after June visits rose to 578,800

France has escalated its action against Polymarket by ordering internet service providers to block access to the prediction platform after determining that it operates as an unauthorized gambling service and that earlier geoblocking failed to stop local users from accessing it. The Autorité nationale des jeux said prediction market websites qualify as illegal gambling services under French law and warned that promoting such a platform can carry fines of up to €100,000. The regulator said Polymarket’s French audience kept growing despite prior restrictions, reaching 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors in June 2026. ANJ said the platform’s homepage continued to display live odds, which it viewed as promotion of an unauthorized service. It also raised concerns about inadequate identity and location checks for French and European users, and said stronger controls would be needed to prevent access from France. French authorities have monitored Polymarket since November 2024, and the latest move adds to wider European scrutiny of prediction markets. ANJ said some event markets appeared to be rigged and that weather sensors tied to certain markets may have been hacked, while prosecutors opened a cybercrime investigation on May 4. Elsewhere in Europe, the Czech Republic has also moved to block Polymarket, and the European Securities and Markets Authority has said some event-based contracts could fall under MiFID II financial-instrument rules.