On July 16, 2026, France’s gambling regulator ANJ ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket. The wording matters: the prediction platform is classified as illegal gambling — the same bucket the ANJ uses for unlicensed casinos and sportsbooks.
What happened
This is round two. Back in November 2024 the ANJ forced a geoblock on financial transactions from French residents to Polymarket. It didn’t work: users kept finding ways around it, and in June 2026 alone the regulator counted 578,751 visits from France, 205,057 of them unique. So the block has moved up to ISP level — the heaviest tool in the ANJ’s kit, previously reserved for offshore casinos.
What it means for operators
First, the debate over what prediction markets legally are is settled in France. “It’s a financial instrument, not betting” did not fly. If you are adding event markets or prediction mechanics to your product, treat them as betting in regulated jurisdictions — licence, KYC, responsible gambling, the whole package.
Second, payment blocking is no longer considered enough. Regulators are escalating to ISP-level blocks, and the trend is pan-European. The old playbook — “we have no legal presence there and payments are closed anyway” — is losing its protective value. Geo-compliance has to be designed into the product, not patched on afterwards.
Third, and most practical: the ANJ’s own numbers prove the demand. Half a million monthly visits from a single country where payments have been shut for two years — that is an audience that wants to bet on events. For licensed operators this is a case for event betting as a legal product: the demand exists and the competition is outside the law. We build such mechanics into turnkey casino development, and with white label solutions licensing and geo-restrictions are already handled at platform level.
The bigger picture
France is squeezing the unlicensed sector on every front — a week earlier, on July 17, the ANJ fined an operator $572,799 for breaching gambling law. Meanwhile prediction markets keep booming: Kalshi added three million new subscriptions during the World Cup. The more these platforms look like bookmakers, the faster regulators treat them as such. Expect similar rulings elsewhere in the EU.