After weeks of escalating tensions between Polymarket and the French government, the popular prediction betting market opted to block France-based users on Friday—cutting out a major market for the site.
Users attempting to access the site from France today found a new pop-up preventing them from doing so.
“You appear to be located in the United States, France, or another related jurisdiction,” the new pop-up reads. “Trading is not available to U.S. persons, persons located in the United States, France, or persons located in restricted jurisdictions.”
Mystery Prediction Market Whale Made $47 Million Betting on Trump
As Donald Trump prevailed at the ballot box Tuesday, so did several Polymarket users, who backed the former President’s White House bid to the tune of millions of dollars. Representing the blockchain-based prediction platform’s largest market by volume and open interest, Polymarket’s U.S. presidential election contest concluded Wednesday. Overall, the contest registered $3.6 billion in total trading volume before it resolved in Trump’s favor. With Trump projected to win the country’s popular vot...
While U.S.-based users have been blocked from accessing Polymarket since 2022, following a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), France was, until today, a key market for the betting site.
That may have been part of the problem. In the weeks leading up to the U.S. presidential election—a marquee event for Polymarket that attracted billions of dollars’ worth of wagers—an anonymous French user attracted international scrutiny for placing $45 million worth of bets on Donald Trump’s victory from various accounts.
In the immediate aftermath of the revelation of this French user’s massive position—and swirling concerns about the potential for insider trading on Polymarket—a report surfaced that France’s national gaming regulator planned to ban the site in French territories.
Polymarket Founder Raided by FBI After Trump Win, Company Says
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan was the target of a law enforcement raid Wednesday, the company confirmed to Decrypt, describing him as the victim of "political retribution" after his phone and electronics were seized. The spokesperson claimed that Coplan is being targeted after Polymarket “correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” after bettors on the crypto prediction market platform correctly picked a White House victory for Republican Donald Trump. The seizures, conducted Wednesday in...
It appears that Polymarket beat France to the punch today, by preemptively blocking all users based in the nation.
“Users in France can continue to access Polymarket for critical information about the events that matter most to them, but for the time being we’ve hit pause on new trades," a company spokesperson told Decrypt. "We took this step proactively while we continue to engage with stakeholders in the country about our platform and prediction markets more generally.”
Decrypt reached out to the ANJ, France’s national gaming authority, but did not immediately receive a response
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with comment from Polymarket.
