Polymarket Restricts Those in France From Placing Bets on Site Amid Probe, CEO Home Being Raided
The popular betting market Polymarket announced Monday it will no longer be accepting customers in France, amid a reported investigation by France’s National Gaming Authority into the platform’s compliance with local gambling laws.
It is widely believed that French authorities took interest in the site after it became known that a French national “Théo,” also known as “Fredi9999,” profited nearly $80 million from bets on Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election held earlier this month.
While the company has yet to officially announce the ban on French users, attempting to access the prediction market platform from France results in a message noting that Polymarket is in “view-only mode” for “persons located in the United States, France, or persons located in restricted jurisdictions.”
“Users in France can continue to access Polymarket for critical information about the events that matter most to them, but for the time being we’ve hit pause on new trades. We took this step proactively while we continue to engage with stakeholders in the country about our platform and prediction markets more generally,” a Polymarket spokesperson told The Block when reached for comment.
Days after the U.S. election, the FBI raided the New York City apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, also seizing a phone and other electronics.
“New phone, who dis?” Coplan posted on X after the raid.
Polymarket, which Coplan founded in 2020, has recently been the subject of intense debate and scrutiny over its creation of election betting markets. It brought in more than $3.6 billion from bets placed on the presidential election, including $1.5 billion on Trump and $1 billion on Vice President Kamala Harris, according to an NBC News analysis.
Speculation has swirled around the identities of major bettors who wagered on Trump and whether or not the odds and the existence of the markets could have had an effect on voters. No further details are known as to the reasons behind the raid and seizure.
Other prominent elections betting sites include BetOnline, which is available from the United States for wagering. That company has been in business since 1999. But unlike Polymarket, BetOnline is based outside the U.S.
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