Czech Republic blocks Polymarket over gambling concerns

The Czech Ministry of Finance has banned prediction market platform Polymarket and directed internet service providers to cut off access within 15 days, under national gambling law.

The ministry added the decentralized platform to its list of unauthorized internet games on Tuesday.

Czech officials determined that Polymarket’s offering constitutes unauthorized gambling activity. The ministry cited data showing the platform is projected to process approximately $220 billion in volume during 2025, with monthly turnover ranging between $10 billion and $11 billion.

The Institute for Gambling Regulation, a Czech trade body, raised two concerns that regulators and academics have cited elsewhere regarding prediction markets: the risk of outcome manipulation and the potential misuse of non-public information.

Jan Řehola, Director of the Institute for Gambling Regulation, argued that a product functioning as wagering warrants regulation as such.

“They involve betting on real-world events, often without clear accountability to the state, without standard player-protection measures and without the rules that apply to legal gambling,” he said.

“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,” Řehola added.

Global access and minimal user identity verification, built into Polymarket’s blockchain-based structure, have made supervision harder for national authorities.

Řehola said the ban “was not about banning innovation” but instead about ensuring “that the same rules apply to everyone who offers betting for money.”

“Player protection, the prevention of money laundering and effective market supervision must not depend on what an operator chooses to call its product,” he said.

Czech action follows other European bans

Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine have restricted or blocked Polymarket for consumers over the past two years, and the Czech Republic now joins that list.

This year, the Netherlands‘ Kansspelautoriteit ordered Polymarket to halt operations by February 17. The platform complied one day late and now faces sanctions from the regulator, despite having filed an appeal. Dutch gambling law classifies both “event betting” — wagers on political outcomes and other non-sporting results — and traditional sports betting as activities requiring a license.

Nine European regulators launched a joint initiative in June to coordinate enforcement against unlicensed prediction markets. Their joint statement pointed to consumer protection and market integrity concerns tied to platforms operating without local gambling licenses.