France and the Czech Republic have ordered internet service providers to block access to prediction-market platform Polymarket, classifying it as unauthorized gambling. France's Autorité Nationale des Jeux issued the ISP block order on July 16, while the Czech Ministry of Finance added Polymarket to its List of Unauthorized Internet Games on July 13. The actions stem from regulators treating prediction-market contracts as gambling services rather than financial products. In the United States, Kalshi operates as a federally regulated derivatives exchange under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight since 2020, while Polymarket settled a CFTC enforcement action in 2022 and restricted US access. The divergent regulatory approaches create a jurisdictional split where identical prediction-market contracts face gambling restrictions in Europe and derivatives regulation in the US, though American state-level enforcement disputes remain unresolved.
France Orders ISP Block After Geoblocking Fails
France's Autorité Nationale des Jeux ordered domestic internet service providers to block Polymarket on July 16 and announced the measure the following day. The regulator concluded that the platform was offering unauthorized gambling services. The ANJ estimated that Polymarket recorded 578,751 visits from France in June 2026, involving 205,057 unique visitors.
The ISP block represented an escalation from earlier enforcement. The ANJ contacted Polymarket in November 2024 over services it considered capable of constituting unauthorized gambling. Polymarket subsequently restricted French users and suspended their ability to enter transactions, but the regulator said users continued to circumvent those controls.
The ANJ's stated concerns extend beyond the absence of a gambling licence. The regulator has pointed to weak identity controls, the absence of effective betting limits and self-exclusion tools, and features it believes can expose users to excessive gambling risks. The action also followed a cybercrime investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office on May 4 into suspected manipulation involving weather-linked prediction markets.
Czech Republic Adds Polymarket to Unauthorized Gambling List
The Czech Ministry of Finance added Polymarket to its List of Unauthorized Internet Games on July 13. Under Section 84a of the country's Gambling Act, internet providers were required to block the relevant domains within 15 days.
The Czech action places Polymarket inside an existing enforcement system used against gambling websites that operate without domestic authorization. Access to Polymarket has also been restricted across a wider group of jurisdictions, including several European countries that classify its contracts under gambling law rather than financial-market rules.
Kalshi Operates Under CFTC Derivatives Framework
Kalshi has been registered as a CFTC-designated contract market since 2020, allowing it to list event contracts under the Commodity Exchange Act and the commission's rules. Its products have included contracts tied to economic indicators, elections, entertainment and sports.
That federal designation gives Kalshi an argument unavailable to an ordinary sportsbook. The company maintains that its contracts are federally regulated derivatives and that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over trading conducted on its market.
Polymarket's position is different. The crypto-based platform settled a CFTC enforcement action in 2022 for operating an unregistered event-contract facility and restricted access for US users. Its re-entry into the US market has depended on regulated infrastructure rather than an assertion that its offshore platform is unconditionally lawful nationwide.
New York Court Denies Kalshi Preemption Claim
US District Judge Analisa Torres denied Kalshi's request for a preliminary injunction against New York gambling enforcement, finding that the Commodity Exchange Act does not necessarily preempt the state's gambling laws as applied to Kalshi's contracts. Kalshi filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit on the same day.
The case now sits in tension with an earlier Third Circuit ruling involving New Jersey, where the court accepted that Kalshi's contracts were likely within the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction and could not simply be regulated as state gambling products. The disagreement has created a circuit-level split in legal reasoning.
The CFTC has also entered the dispute directly. On April 2, the commission sued Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois over state efforts to regulate federally listed event contracts. The agency argues that allowing separate state regimes would undermine the uniform national framework created for derivatives markets.
Regulators Create Fragmented Platform Access
For prediction-market operators, the immediate consequence is fragmented access. A platform may hold federal authorization in the United States and still face cease-and-desist orders, litigation or restrictions at state level. In Europe, users may lose access entirely when regulators classify the service as unauthorized gambling and compel internet providers to block it.
The legal distinction between a bet and a derivative determines whether a platform can advertise, accept customers, list sports contracts, process payments and remain accessible through local internet providers. Several European regulators are restricting Polymarket through gambling law, while the US federal framework is licensing event-contract exchanges and fighting states over how far that authority extends.
FAQ
What did France's ANJ do on July 16?
France's Autorité Nationale des Jeux ordered domestic internet service providers to block Polymarket on July 16, announcing the measure the following day. The regulator concluded that the platform was offering unauthorized gambling services and estimated that Polymarket recorded 578,751 visits from France in June 2026, involving 205,057 unique visitors.
How does Kalshi's regulatory status differ from Polymarket's in the United States?
Kalshi has been registered as a CFTC-designated contract market since 2020, allowing it to list event contracts under the Commodity Exchange Act. Polymarket settled a CFTC enforcement action in 2022 for operating an unregistered event-contract facility and restricted access for US users, with its re-entry into the US market depending on regulated infrastructure.
