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France’s National Gambling Authority (ANJ) is examining whether Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based predictions site that took massive wagers on the US election, is complying with French law.
Election betting sites, including New York City-based Polymarket, got big play in the US media in the run-up to last week’s election, especially a big bet that may have shifted odds decisively to accurately predict a victory for President-elect Donald Trump.
A spokeswoman for the French regulator confirmed several media reports of an investigation.
“We are aware of this site and are currently examining its operation and compliance with French gambling legislation,” the spokeswoman said in an email.
If a website is found to be in violation of French law, it will be asked to cease the violation and to block French consumers.
If it does not comply, the ANJ can order internet service providers to block the website or to remove illegal content.
Wagers over who would win the presidency topped $3.7bn, with Polymarket confirming media reports that said a French national was behind multi-million dollar bets on Trump.
Reports on that supposed $30m bet led to the regulator’s decision to examine the website’s compliance with French law, according to The Big Whale, a French cryptocurrency news site.
Although Polymarket lists traditional sports bets alongside exotic bets, like whether Elon Musk will be arrested in 2024 (2 percent chance) and whether US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or singers Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift will announce that they are pregnant in 2024, there is no mention of a gambling licence visible on its website.
Polymarket also offers extensive information on trading limits and how odds are generated, but no information on gambling addiction or addiction helplines could be found.
The website is currently inaccessible for deposits from the US and the UK, which is still the world’s largest regulated online gambling market, although users can circumvent blocks using virtual private networks.
But Polymarket conducted checks to ensure big US election bettors were located outside US borders, according to Bloomberg.
In 2022, it paid $1.4m to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to settle claims that it was operating illegally in the US.
On Tuesday (November 12), the site was offering bets on individual NFL and NBA games, and bets on championships for the NHL and Spain’s La Liga.
Polymarket did not respond to a request for comment in time for deadline.
