Polymarket is continuing its relentless pursuit of European market access. Indeed, in a recent development, the prediction market operator has announced that it will challenge the Dutch ban in place against it in court.
Its argument, of course, is that its markets are not gambling but financial products that should fall under the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM). Thus, the operator argues it should not fall under the gambling regulator KSA’s jurisdiction.
In February, the KSA determined that Polymarket is a gambling site operating without the required license and ordered it to cease operations in the Netherlands. The KSA fined the operator €420,000 and requested that Dutch citizens be blocked from accessing the site.
According to local media, in the run-up to the parliamentary election late last year, Dutch bettors wagered over $30m on Polymarket regarding the outcomes.
Over the summer, Polymarket also vowed to fight France’s gambling regulator's block in court. It also recently commenced a lobbying campaign with European financial regulators to classify its contracts as financial products. The operator is seeking regulation as a financial services firm to avoid a fragmented set of gambling laws.
However, European regulators seem unwilling to budge. The important one, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), earlier warned that prediction markets face heightened insider trading risk.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recognised that prediction markets on “financial or certain climatic events” fall under its remit. But it highlighted that markets on political outcomes and sports would fall under the Gambling Commission.
Czech Ministry of Finance recently added Kalshi to its list of unauthorised gaming operators
