Czech authorities have added Polymarket to the country’s blacklist, giving internet providers 15 days to block access.
The Czech Finance Ministry added Polymarket to its public list of unauthorized internet games on July 13, according to the original government record.
The official list cites Section 84a(2)(a) of the Czech Gambling Act, which applies when authorities find that a prohibited online game is being operated through a website. Under Czech rules, internet providers must prevent access to websites on the list within 15 days of their publication. Polymarket doesn’t hold a Czech gambling license.
Czech Gambling Industry
Czech authorities and the country’s licensed gambling industry argue that prediction markets function like betting platforms even when they use financial language such as “contracts” and “returns.”
Jan Řehola, director of the Institute for Gambling Regulation, a Czech gambling-industry group, welcomed the ministry’s decision in comments to SBC:
“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.”
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Řehola argues that if a product looks and functions like a bet, allowing users to win or lose money based on an uncertain event, it should still be treated as gambling even if it is called a contract. He added:
“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.”
The Institute for Gambling Regulation isn’t a government regulator, but a professional association representing companies and specialists in the country’s legal gambling industry.
Polymarket Faces More European Blocks
The Czech Republic joins a growing group of European jurisdictions that have restricted Polymarket after treating its event contracts as unlicensed gambling.
France, Belgium, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands have also limited or blocked access to the platform, while Spain moved against both Polymarket and rival prediction market Kalshi in May.
Gibraltar has taken a different approach by licensing prediction markets through its gambling framework, though Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, not an EU member state.
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