Polymarket blocked French users on Friday, weeks after reports that the country's government was investigating the prediction markets juggernaut for gambling law compliance.
The ban was not reflected in Polymarket's terms of service at press time, but on Friday a reporter using a VPN attempted to access the website from a French server and ran into a digital blockade.
Polymarket fell into the crosshairs of France's national gaming authority the ANJ after a French trader placed massive bets on Donald Trump to win the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.
The fresh ban was first highlighted on social media by French crypto news site The Big Whale.
🔴 Info @TheBigWhale_ Comme nous le révélions il y a 2 semaines, @Polymarket n'est désormais plus accessible depuis la France 🇫🇷On ne peut plus placer de parisUn vœu pieux, car j'ai réussi à en placer un grâce à un VPN pic.twitter.com/7YMXV6dafy
— Grégory Raymond 🐳 (@gregory_raymond) November 22, 2024
Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did the ANJ.