Norway’s gambling regulator is assessing whether Polymarket constitutes illegal gambling targeted at the country, a finding that could lead to DNS blocking and restrictions on payment processing.
Atle Hamar, Director of the Norwegian Lottery Authority, said the prediction market was expanding into Norway and warned of risks for consumers. Citing figures suggesting that 1% of participants receive around 67% of profits, he argued that users with privileged information can hold a substantial advantage over ordinary participants.
On Polymarket, transactions take place between users rather than against a bookmaker, while positions may be traded before an event is resolved. Hamar said this structure could create opportunities for insider activity and manipulation, referring to reported examples involving defence-sector knowledge and interference with weather data.
He also raised concerns about young Norwegian users and urged parents to monitor engagement with prediction-market platforms.
The platform gained wider attention in Norway around the award of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado. A sharp movement in the implied probability of her victory shortly before the announcement prompted speculation about whether information had leaked, although no cause was established.
Should the authority determine that Polymarket is an illegal gambling operator targeting Norway, it may seek to block access through the domain name system and apply the country’s payment intermediary restrictions. Individuals who circumvent a block through a virtual private network would not themselves be acting illegally, according to the report.
Hamar said DNS blocking had worked relatively well, but described it as one part of a broader enforcement framework that also includes marketing rules, payment restrictions and compulsory fines.
The assessment follows growing calls for tighter restrictions on prediction markets in Norway. In June, politicians and addiction experts raised concerns about player protection, insider trading and financial crime, with the Socialist Left Party seeking a review of gambling rules covering platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi.
Polymarket was established in the US in 2020 and allows users to trade positions on the outcomes of real-world events
