Polymarket is seeking financial-services oversight for its prediction contracts in Europe and the UK, arguing they should be regulated under investment-market rules rather than primarily as gambling products. The company has discussed potential licensing routes with the European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Commission, UK regulators and national authorities, while pursuing treatment under the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID. National gambling regulators in France, Germany and Italy continue to regard many prediction markets as gambling, while France and the Czech Republic have ordered internet providers to restrict access to Polymarket. ESMA has said some event-based contracts may qualify as financial instruments under MiFID II and warned of insider-trading risks, but existing binary-options restrictions could still constrain retail access. In the UK, financial-event contracts can fall under the Financial Conduct Authority while political and sports contracts require gambling authorization; retail binary options have been banned since 2019. The regulatory campaign coincides with Polymarket's international expansion and discussions over about $1 billion in funding at a valuation above $20 billion.