TLDR Polymarket has gone to a Dutch court to overturn the Netherlands’ ban on its prediction market. The company argues its event contracts are financial products that belong under the AFM, not the gambling regulator. The KSA ruled Polymarket blocked Dutch users one day late and moved to collect a €420,000 ($471,000) penalty. The regulator rejected Polymarket’s objection on June 23, quoting the platform’s own help page describing it as betting. The Netherlands joins a list of countries, including France, Spain and Brazil, that treat Polymarket as unlicensed gambling.
Polymarket has gone to court in the Netherlands to try to overturn a ban on its prediction market. The company confirmed the move, according to Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
Polymarket argues that it offers financial products, not bets. It says its event contracts work like futures and should be supervised by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has already rejected this argument. The regulator treats the platform as an unlicensed gambling service.
How the Dutch Ban Started
The case goes back to a Jan. 20 order against Polymarket’s operator. The KSA told the company to stop serving Dutch users within four weeks.
If it failed to do so, it would pay €420,000 ($471,000) per week, up to a maximum of €840,000 ($943,000).
Before issuing the order, KSA inspectors tested the platform themselves. They opened an account from a Dutch IP address and deposited €10 by card from a Dutch bank account.
The inspectors then bought a $1 “Yes” share on Rob Jetten in the “Next Prime Minister of the Netherlands” market. The order also noted that the site offered a Dutch-language AI chatbot.
Polymarket says it switched on IP blocking for Dutch users on Feb. 18. However, the deadline