Czech Ministry bets against Polymarket, orders ISPs to deal a 15-day block 🇿🇦

The Czech Finance Ministry added Polymarket to its national blacklist of unauthorized online gambling websites on Monday, instructing internet service providers to block access to the prediction market. The platform was listed under the country's Gambling Act, which prohibits unlicensed operators from offering online gambling services to Czech users. Under the statute, ISPs must restrict access to blacklisted sites within 15 days of publication of the name.

Polymarket is a prediction market where users trade contracts tied to the outcomes of future events. The platform drew global attention during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when its markets were widely cited as a real-time gauge of election sentiment. Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Czech action mirrors restrictions imposed elsewhere in the European Union. Polymarket and rival Kalshi have been blocked or limited by regulators in France, Germany, Poland, Romania and Spain. On July 3, the European Securities and Markets Authority warned that many prediction market contracts could already fall under existing restrictions on binary options if they meet the definition of financial instruments, saying companies cannot avoid EU financial rules simply by marketing binary-style products as "event contracts" rather than derivatives. ESMA added that firms offering qualifying contracts to retail investors may already be subject to national restrictions implementing the bloc's 2018 binary options ban, and that products marketed to professional clients may require authorization under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II.

Regulatory pressure on prediction markets extends beyond Europe. Authorities in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore have taken similar action, while in the United States Kalshi and Polymarket have faced state-level allegations that their event contracts constitute illegal gambling. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission maintains such products fall under its exclusive jurisdiction as federally regulated derivatives, a position that has produced conflicting court rulings and renewed calls for Congress to clarify whether sports and political event contracts should be treated as gambling or as federally regulated derivatives.