The French regulator (ANJ) blocked Polymarket after trader “Théo” made $80 million betting on the 2024 US election, citing insider trading concerns.
The French gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux, conducted an inquiry that resulted in the denial of access to Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction platform, for users in France.
The scandal involving a French trader who, according to Fortune, bet millions of dollars on Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in 2024 also influenced the decision, even though the platform complied with French wagering laws.
The restriction stops users in France from placing bets or trading on Polymarket, as evidenced by screenshots collected by crypto.news. Despite the fact that the platform is still accessible in view-only mode, users in France are unable to do either of these things.
As a result of an anonymous French user with the moniker “Théo” placing wagers totaling more than thirty million dollars on the results of the Trump election, the French National Court of Justice (ANJ) has reportedly begun an investigation into the platform.
Théo ultimately made close to $80 million from the guesses, raising questions about the potential for insider trading and market manipulation. Polymarket provides its customers the ability to place wagers on the outcomes of real-world events, such as elections and athletic competitions, through the utilization of cryptocurrencies.
However, the technology behind blockchain poses compliance concerns in many jurisdictions, despite the fact that it makes transactions in these markets more transparent.
According to the French gambling regulators, this practice is considered unlicensed wagering, which is a violation of the national law. The scope of Théo’s betting activity reportedly spurred the French regulator’s surveillance. This might have compelled Polymarket to impose comparable restrictions on French users.
The United States of America is the location where Polymarket has recently begun operations. Despite the fact that Polymarket has banned access to its platform for customers in the United States since 2022 as a result of a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, France has been a significant market for the company.
During the search of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s property in Soho, which took place after the election in the United States, federal investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confiscated mobile devices that belonged to Coplan. The agents roused Coplan from his sleep at six in the morning, but they did not disclose the reason for the probe.
