France orders internet providers to block Polymarket ahead of World Cup final

France's gambling regulator has ordered the country's internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, cutting French users off from the prediction market platform days before the World Cup final resolves the largest event markets the industry has produced.

The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) said in a statement Friday that its president issued the blocking order on July 16 because the site "is promoting an illegal gambling and betting offering." The regulator said the platform could expose users to significant gambling losses and that some wagers offered on it could be manipulated.

The order escalates restrictions in place since November 2024, when Polymarket cut off trading for French users following a formal notice from the regulator. That earlier ban apparently failed to keep French users away: the site drew 578,751 visits from 205,057 unique visitors in France in June, according to Similarweb data cited by the regulator, though the site was available to French users in view-only mode. 

The ANJ said Polymarket's homepage, which displays live odds even where trading is restricted, amounts to advertising for an unauthorized gambling service. Promoting an unlicensed betting site is a criminal offense in France punishable by fines of up to 100,000 euros ($114,000), the regulator said, adding that the block will remain until the platform complies with French rules.

The regulator also said some wagers on the platform appeared to have been rigged, with weather bets revealing that sensors may have been hacked, prompting the Paris prosecutor's cybercrime unit to open an investigation on May 4. French scrutiny of the platform dates to 2024, when a French trader known as "Fredi9999" made an estimated $79 million betting on Donald Trump's presidential win.

The timing lands awkwardly for French traders. Sunday's final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium, which kicks off at 3 p.m. ET, will settle Polymarket's World Cup Winner market, the largest single market in the platform's history at more than $4 billion in volume, according to data the company shared with Fortune. A separate contract on the final has drawn more than $1.27 billion on rival Kalshi.

France, which Spain eliminated in the semifinals, was the betting favorite for much of the tournament. As of early July, France had an implied probability of roughly 35% in Kalshi's World Cup winner market.

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The World Cup pushed combined monthly volume across Kalshi, Polymarket, and Polymarket US to $44.8 billion in June, a 75% jump from May, according to The Block's data dashboard. Reuters reported last month that Polymarket's annualized revenue has passed $1 billion.

France joins a growing list of European jurisdictions moving against the platform. The Czech Ministry of Finance ordered internet providers to block Polymarket on July 13, and Portugal ordered a block in January. Brazil enacted a sweeping ban on prediction and betting platforms in April.

Polymarket did not immediately respond to The Block's request for comment.