Crypto
Home›Crypto›Regulation›France blocks Polymarket after geofence controls were…
France blocks Polymarket after geofence controls were circumvented
French regulators cited Similarweb data showing the site drew 578,751 visits and 205,057 unique visitors from France in June 2026, prompting a broader ban via ISP access blocks.
France has ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, a crypto prediction-market platform, escalating its action beyond a prior geofence aimed at restricting French-based transactions. The order, published by the Autorité nationale des jeux on July 17, said Polymarket’s website promoted an unauthorized gambling offering even where the earlier restriction was intended to stop financial transactions from France.
The regulator said the platform attracted significant French traffic in June 2026, citing Similarweb estimates of 578,751 total visits and 205,057 unique visitors. The ANJ said this scale helped explain why it moved from asking the operator to restrict transactions to directing access providers to close off the main website.
France’s intervention traces back to November 2024, when the ANJ said it approached Adventure One QSS Inc., the Panamanian company it identified as Polymarket’s operator, after concluding the service could qualify as unauthorized gambling under French law. Adventure One later installed a geoblock that the regulator initially described as preventing bets from France, but the July 2026 notice said workarounds meant the control was circumvented in practice.
The ANJ also argued that even if settlement can happen on a blockchain, mainstream users still depend on the website and operator-controlled systems to find markets and place orders. It said Polymarket’s homepage, with dynamically updated live odds, functioned as a major channel for promoting what it considers illegal activity, and noted that Article 61 allows the regulator to order ISP blocking of specified illegal online interfaces after notice and response periods. The regulator said it previously blocked 1,290 URLs tied to illegal gambling in 2025 using the same process, which it described as enabling wider distribution sanctions.