Czech Republic Bans Polymarket and Orders ISPs to Block Access

The Czech Republic has banned Polymarket, adding the crypto-based prediction market to its official list of unlicensed gambling operators on 14 July 2026 and ordering internet service providers to block access within 15 days. The Ministry of Finance treats Polymarket's event contracts as unlicensed betting, arguing that the platform relabels wagers as financial "contracts" and payouts as "returns on investment." The decision makes the Czech Republic the latest European state to close its market to the operator, joining France, Germany, Romania, Spain and Belgium, and it sharpens a widening split in how governments classify prediction markets.

What did the Czech Republic do to Polymarket?

The Czech Ministry of Finance placed Polymarket on its register of prohibited unlicensed gaming websites and issued an access-blocking order to domestic internet service providers, who have 15 days to comply. Once that deadline passes, Czech users trying to reach the platform should be routed to a blocklist notice rather than the site. The action was reported by SBC News and uses the same enforcement mechanism the country applies to other unlicensed online gambling sites.

At its core, this is a classification decision. Czech regulators concluded that Polymarket offers gambling under national law, whatever fintech language the platform uses to describe its markets.

Why does the Czech Republic call Polymarket gambling and not investing?

Czech authorities say prediction markets disguise betting as financial investment by renaming the mechanics. On Polymarket, users buy and sell shares in the outcome of future events, from elections to sports results, with prices moving between 0 and 100 cents to reflect implied probability. The platform describes these as "contracts" and gains as "returns," but Czech officials see a wager on an uncertain outcome with money won or lost, which meets the definition of gambling.

Jan Rehola, director of the Czech Institute for Gambling Regulation, put the reasoning plainly.

"If something looks like a bet, functions like a bet and allows people to win or lose money depending on the outcome of an uncertain event, we cannot stop treating it as gambling simply because it is called a contract."

Rehola added that "the same rules must apply to everyone" offering money-betting activities, regardless of how the product is branded. That principle, consistency of treatment across licensed sportsbooks and unlicensed exchanges, is the throughline in most of the enforcement actions Polymarket now faces across Europe.

Which countries have banned or restricted Polymarket?

The Czech Republic joins a long and growing list. Polymarket has been blocked, blacklisted or restricted in more than a dozen jurisdictions, and the pace accelerated through 2025 and 2026 as prediction markets went mainstream. The table below summarises major actions.

Jurisdiction	Action	Reported basis
Czech Republic	ISP blocking order, 15-day deadline (Jul 2026)	Unlicensed gambling
France	Nationwide geoblock, view-only mode	Unlicensed betting
Belgium	Official blacklist	Operating without authorisation
Spain	ISP block ordered (May 2026)	Licence investigation
Netherlands	Ruled unlicensed gambling (Feb 2026)	No Dutch licence
Brazil	Blocked (Apr 2026)	Event contracts ruled non-compliant
Australia	Restricted	Gambling prohibition

SBC News reported that the Czech ban places the country alongside France, Germany, Romania, Spain, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia and Brazil. Additional restrictions have been documented in Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Ukraine, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Argentina, according to a tracker maintained by CCN.

How big is Polymarket right now?

Polymarket is the largest crypto-native prediction market in the world by volume, which is why national regulators are moving on it rather than ignoring it. The platform recorded roughly 33.4 billion dollars in trading volume across 2025, per CCN's market data, and set a single-day record of about 176 million dollars in June 2026. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the CCN tracker logged around 1.5 billion dollars in value traded on tournament markets before a ball was kicked in the knockout rounds.

The scale is matched by institutional backing. In 2025, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to invest up to 2 billion dollars in Polymarket, a deal that valued the company in the region of 8 to 10 billion dollars. Earlier funding talks had explored a valuation of 12 to 15 billion dollars, according to reporting collated by Bitcoin Magazine.

Is Polymarket legal in the United States again?

Yes, Polymarket has a route back into the United States after years operating offshore. On 25 November 2025, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an amended order of designation that lets Polymarket operate as a regulated, intermediated trading venue. The approval was built on Polymarket's 112 million dollar acquisition of QCEX, a licensed contract market and clearinghouse, which supplied the federal licensing foundation. That US pathway, through a financial regulator rather than a gambling regulator, is exactly the distinction European gambling authorities are rejecting.

How does Gibraltar's approach differ from the Czech ban?

Gibraltar has taken the opposite path, creating a bespoke licensing category for prediction markets rather than banning them. Days before the Czech action, Gibraltar released the first set of rules that treat prediction market exchanges as neither traditional gambling nor pure financial instruments, and it has already licensed operators including ADI Predictstreet and Wire Market. Where the Czech Republic folds prediction markets into existing gambling law, Gibraltar carves out a new regulated space with its own standards, and notably does not allow platforms to self-certify their status.

The result is a fractured map. The same product can be a licensed exchange in Gibraltar, a regulated futures venue in the United States, and a blacklisted gambling site in Prague, all at once.

Why are regulators worried about prediction markets?

The central concern is consumer protection and regulatory arbitrage. If a platform can offer what looks like sports and event betting while sidestepping gambling licences, tax, advertising limits, affordability checks and self-exclusion tools, then licensed operators face an uneven playing field and consumers lose the protections built into national gambling regimes. Czech officials framed the Polymarket ban squarely in those terms, insisting that money-betting activity must sit inside the licensed system regardless of the label on the product.

What does the ban mean for Czech users?

Czech residents will find Polymarket's website unreachable through mainstream internet providers once the 15-day window closes. Blocking orders of this kind are not perfect, and determined users can attempt workarounds, but the practical effect is to cut off casual access, remove the platform from the legal market, and signal to payment providers and affiliates that promoting Polymarket in the Czech Republic carries regulatory risk. For the operator, it is another national market closed at a moment when it is trying to legitimise elsewhere.

What happens next for prediction markets in Europe?

Expect more national actions and a growing push for a common European position. With individual states blocking Polymarket one by one while Gibraltar licenses the same activity, the pressure for coordinated European Union guidance on how event contracts should be classified is rising. Until that happens, prediction market operators face a patchwork of bans, licences and grey areas that makes pan-European scaling extremely difficult, and gives first-mover regulators like Gibraltar an outsized influence on how the sector develops.

Key facts

• 14 July 2026: Polymarket added to the Czech Republic's unlicensed gambling blacklist, with a 15-day ISP blocking deadline (source: SBC News).
• 33.4 billion dollars: Polymarket's approximate 2025 trading volume (source: CCN market data).
• Up to 2 billion dollars: Intercontinental Exchange's 2025 investment in Polymarket, valuing it near 8 to 10 billion dollars (source: Bitcoin Magazine).
• 25 November 2025: CFTC amended order of designation clearing Polymarket's regulated return to the United States (source: CFTC via Bitcoin Magazine).

Frequently asked questions

Is Polymarket banned in the Czech Republic?

Yes. On 14 July 2026 the Czech Ministry of Finance added Polymarket to its list of unlicensed gambling operators and ordered internet service providers to block access within 15 days.

Why did the Czech Republic ban Polymarket?

Regulators classified Polymarket's event contracts as unlicensed gambling, rejecting the argument that renaming bets as financial "contracts" removes them from gambling law.

Which other countries have banned Polymarket?

Reported bans or restrictions include France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Romania, the Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, among others, with the list growing through 2026.

Is Polymarket legal in the United States?

Polymarket returned to the US legally after the CFTC issued an amended order of designation on 25 November 2025, following its acquisition of the licensed exchange QCEX.

How is Gibraltar's stance different?

Gibraltar created a dedicated regulatory category for prediction markets and has licensed operators such as ADI Predictstreet, rather than treating the activity as prohibited gambling.

Updated July 2026. iGaming Daily News tracks prediction market regulation across Europe and North America. This is trade news for industry professionals, not betting advice. 18 plus, please gamble responsibly.