Betting

Online game: from 27 July, Polymarket will no longer be accessible in Italia

The prediction market platform has once again been blacklisted by the Customs and Monopolies Agency. From France to Brazil to China, numerous countries have imposed restrictions on the site

by Pietro Menzani

23 July 2026

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

After being added to the list of blocked websites by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) on 10 July, Polymarket will no longer be accessible in Italia from Monday 27 July. This has been reported by the specialist press agency Agipro. The leading international betting prediction platform has been blocked in Italia as part of the crackdown on illegal gambling. Indeed, as Agimeg explains, the site is regarded by ADM as equivalent to an unauthorised betting operator.

The first stop

The previous case dates back to November 2025. Polymarket had been included by ADM on the list of platforms not authorised to offer services relating to state-run gambling in Italia, but the Lazio Regional Administrative Court had ordered the site to be reopened. Polymarket – according to Agimeg – had argued at the time that its business was not comparable to that of a traditional betting operator, but rather to a prediction market based on the exchange of odds between users.

The latest suspension therefore reopens a complex issue, with Polymarket, on the one hand, arguing that its business constitutes a prediction market, and Adm, on the other, maintaining that the platform falls within the scope of activities subject to the licensing regime applicable to state-regulated gambling. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the suspension puts the sponsorship agreement between the platform and the Serie A football club S.S. Lazio at risk.

Restrictions in Europe

The restrictions imposed on Polymarket in Italia are not an isolated case. The approach taken by the Customs and Monopolies Agency is in line with that prevailing across the rest of the continent. On 16 July, just a few days after the ADM’s decision, the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) also ordered the blocking of the website, which was accused of promoting illegal gambling. As early as 2024, following an initial warning, as Agimeg points out, Adventure One QSS Inc., the company that operates Polymarket, had introduced a geo-block to prevent financial transactions from France.

Then, on 21 July, Turkey blocked access to the platform on the grounds of alleged illegal betting. Agipro explains that Spain, too, had blocked the site for four months at the start of June, classifying prediction markets as gambling. In the Netherlands, however, the regulatory body had ordered Polymarket to cease operations in February, likening its service to illegal gambling.

However, many other European countries have imposed restrictions on the platform, from the Czech Republic to Germany, including Belgium, Poland, Hungary and Portugal. Malta and Gibraltar, on the other hand, are taking a different approach and are working on regulating the sector in line with the North American model.

The rest of the world

According to Agipro, the United States and Canada are further ahead in regulating prediction markets, although, as they are federal states, differences remain at local level. In Canada, Polymarket is accessible everywhere except in the province of Ontario. In the US, a court in Michigan has ruled that prediction markets must comply with gambling legislation. Furthermore, there is still no unified approach amongst the sports leagues: whilst the NBA has opened the door to a regulatory agreement, the National Football League banned advertising for Polymarket and its competitors during the last Super Bowl.

In South America, the picture is more varied. Across much of the region, the site continues to operate in the absence of specific legislation. Argentina and Brazil, however, ordered the platform to be blocked in the spring for failing to comply with national gambling regulations.

As for Asia, however, the site has been blocked by the gaming authority in Singapore and is also inaccessible in China, Taiwan and Thailand. Whilst certain specific rules and restrictions are in place in South Korea, access to the platform is permitted in Japan.