Since the US presidential elections, in which sums of money were offered to be bet on candidates online, the Polymarket cryptocurrency betting platform has never been so popular and publicized. A celebrity that has made him find himself, in France, in the crosshairs of the National Gaming Authority (ANJ).
The gambling regulator is currently investigating this online portal, which describes itself as “the largest prediction market in the world”He found out on Thursday, November 7. the worldconfirming information published the day before by French media specialized in cryptocurrencies The great whalethen by the American agency Bloomberg.
“We are aware of this site and are currently examining its operation and its compliance with French gambling legislation.” an ANJ spokesperson said Thursday. According The great whaleThe fate of Polymarket would already be decided because the authority would be preparing “ban it to French users”. Information that the National Gaming Authority has not confirmed at the moment.
Regardless of whether bets are placed on crypto assets or not, French legislation on online betting offers is clear: for a site to operate legally, it must have express approval issued by the ANJ. an authorization which may not have been obtained by the American platform Polymarket, which had not responded to requests for World at the time of publication of this article.
A site already inaccessible in the United States
The regulator’s scrutiny also comes after a man, presenting himself under the pseudonym of a trader and identified by Polymarket as French, bet large sums of money on Donald Trump’s victory. After the Republican’s election, he will make a net profit of around $48 million, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
Indeed, the New York platform has benefited greatly from the international enthusiasm surrounding the race for the American presidency. These bets alone produced a volume of almost $3.7 billion, according to Polymarket data. The platform somehow foreshadowed Donald Trump’s victory: during the last months of the campaign, its odds for the billionaire were always higher than the figures of traditional pollsters.
Paradoxically, Polymarket has often been cited in the American campaign, despite the fact that the site is theoretically inaccessible in the United States, since an agreement was signed with the American regulator in 2022. A blockage that can be easily avoided, in particular by use of private networks. virtual networks (VPN), and therefore does not prevent many Americans from using the platform massively since the beginning of the year. A finding that could raise questions in France, while the ANJ investigates the matter.
