Romania Bans Polymarket, Citing Gambling Laws Over "Event Trading" Claims

Romania's National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has banned Polymarket, the blockchain-based prediction market platform, for operating without a license, citing the country's state monopoly on gambling activities, according to a Lookonchain report. The regulator added Polymarket to its official blacklist of unlicensed operators after a surge in user activity during the recent election period, when the platform processed over $600 million in transactions related to the presidential elections and $15 million in Bucharest's local elections, as noted in a Next report. ONJN emphasized that these figures reflect "a significant level of unregulated betting activity" conducted outside state oversight, violating obligations tied to player protection, anti-money laundering (AML) reporting, and tax contributions, according to an iGamingToday article.

The regulator classified Polymarket as a "counterparty betting system," noting that users wager on uncertain future events against one another, with the platform intermediating bets and earning commissions, as reported in a BitcoinWorld article. Despite Polymarket's branding as an "event-trading" venue, ONJN argued that its operations align with Romania's legal definition of gambling, which requires prior licensing, a point detailed by an SBC News report. "It would be a reckless precedent to allow counterparty betting to be reclassified as trading," the office stated, warning that such actions could enable unregulated platforms to circumvent gambling and capital markets laws, a concern also raised by Next.

Romania's move aligns with broader European regulatory efforts to crack down on unlicensed prediction markets. Belgium, France, and Poland have already restricted or blocked access to Polymarket, with French authorities initiating investigations after a €30 million bet on the U.S. presidential election was placed by a French user, as reported by iGamingToday. Poland added the platform to its Register of Illegal Gambling Domains, while Belgium's Kansspelcommissie ordered internet service providers to block access after repeated violations of its Gambling Act, according to SBC News. The EU's unified stance underscores that prediction markets, regardless of blockchain infrastructure, fall under gambling regulations when users stake money on uncertain outcomes, iGamingToday also noted.

Polymarket, which recently secured a $112 million acquisition of a CFTC-licensed exchange in the U.S., has faced similar enforcement actions globally. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) previously sanctioned the platform and blocked U.S. access, a development reported by Next. CEO Shayne Coplan has stated the company aims to expand "within regulated frameworks," but it remains unlicensed in all EU and EEA jurisdictions, according to SBC News. For now, Romanian users are barred from accessing the platform, with local ISPs required to enforce the block, as reported by a Romania Insider report.