Polymarket has been banned from the Czech Republic under the label of an unlicensed gambling platform.
Internet service providers have been given 15 days to comply with an access blocking order issued by the Ministry of Finance.
The country joins a growing list of European jurisdictions taking a stance against prediction market platforms, including France, Germany, Romania, Spain, and Belgium, among others.
Other international markets that have taken a similar approach include New Zealand, Australia and Brazil.
Czech authorities are adamant that platforms like Polymarket present themselves as financial investment tools on the surface, but are actually betting offers in disguise – with only the terminology being swapped, where a bet is being referred to a ‘contract’ and winnings are addressed as ‘return on investment’.
A European lifeline for Polymarket in Gibraltar?
This is a far cry from what prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are being treated as elsewhere, especially in their home market of the US and more recently, Gibraltar.
In the former, platforms of this type are considered to be investment vehicles, regulated on a federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
This came shortly after two prediction market platforms, FIFA partner ADI Predictstreet and Wire Market, were granted a licence by Gibraltar authorities.
The rest of the world, however, remains very sceptical of the proposition, perhaps in large part driven by insider trading concerns and most notably – Polymarket’s notorious contracts on various geopolitical events, including multiple military conflicts.
And while the above varies from opinion to opinion, what is for certain is that many regulators see prediction market platforms as a gambling offer, directly telling companies like Polymarket to first obtain a gambling licence if they want to operate in their respective markets. The Czech Republic is the latest name on that list.
Jan Řehola, Director of the Czech Institute for Gambling Regulation, commented: “Prediction markets are not harmless technological novelties. 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.
“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.
“We therefore consider the Ministry of Finance’s decision to add Polymarket to the List of Unauthorised Internet Games an important step confirming that the same rules must apply to everyone.
“This is not about banning innovation. It is 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.”
It is certainly an interesting time for prediction markets in Europe. While national bans keep pouring in, the recent development in Gibraltar signals that we could still see the space grow on European soil.
