South Korea has ordered access to Polymarket to be blocked after regulators found that the crypto-based prediction market provides an illegal gambling environment to domestic users.
Summary
- South Korea has ordered access to Polymarket to be blocked over illegal gambling concerns.
- Regulators said Polymarket’s winner takes all structure encourages speculative gambling behaviour.
- Polymarket argued that its non custodial P2P model does not meet the legal requirements for gambling.
- The regulator said decentralized technology does not exempt the platform from South Korean law.
South Korea’s Broadcasting, Media and Communications Review Committee voted on Aug. 18 to issue a corrective request requiring access to Polymarket to be blocked, concluding that parts of the platform fall under provisions covering gambling assistance, the opening of gambling venues and similar activities prohibited under the National Sports Promotion Act.
The decision came after the committee examined how Polymarket creates markets, sets trading rules, processes crypto deposits and withdrawals and settles trades between users. Regulators also considered the fees collected from share trading, which they said allow the platform operator to earn economic benefits from the activity.
Under Polymarket’s model, users trade shares tied to the outcome of events covering politics, economics, elections, sports, weather and other subjects. The committee said the structure can produce extreme financial gains or losses based on events that users cannot control, describing the winner-takes-all model as one that encourages speculative gambling behaviour.
South Korea says Polymarket provides an illegal gambling environment
During its Aug. 18 communications review subcommittee meeting, the regulator determined that Polymarket provides information that could facilitate gambling or the operation of a gambling venue under South Korea’s Criminal Act.
Officials also found that some activity could fall within rules governing similar prohibited conduct under the National Sports Promotion Act.
The assessment focused partly on the platform operator’s role. Although users trade with each other, regulators said Polymarket manages market creation and trading rules while providing the infrastructure used for crypto deposits, withdrawals and settlements.
According to the committee, those functions create an environment in which user funds are effectively collected and distributed. Polymarket also receives transaction fees from share trading, a factor the regulator considered when assessing whether the operator economically benefits from the activity.
The ruling follows a review process that had been underway for weeks. In July, the regulator opened a hearing process and gave Polymarket an opportunity to explain its business before deciding whether corrective action was warranted.
At the time, authorities had not reached a final enforcement decision and said the company’s position would be considered as part of the review. The Aug. 18 vote has now resulted in a formal access-blocking request.
Polymarket argued during the proceedings that its structure does not meet the legal requirements for gambling or speculative activity. The company said its service operates through non-custodial peer-to-peer transactions and smart contracts, meaning the platform itself does not act as the organizer of wagers.
It also maintained that it does not directly collect or manage user funds and does not issue sports promotion betting tickets, arguing that its operations therefore fall outside the relevant provisions of South Korean criminal and sports laws.
Polymarket’s decentralized model did not change the regulator’s decision
The committee rejected the argument that Polymarket’s technical structure placed the service outside domestic law.
Regulators said the absence of a Korean-language service, the use of decentralized technology or the presence of centralized components such as a trading interface and order book could not be used to avoid South Korean legal requirements.
The regulator said Polymarket still provides domestic users with what it considers a practical illegal gambling environment, making an access block necessary for user protection.
Polymarket had removed its Korean-language service and argued that payments in South Korean won were unavailable, according to local reports. Regulators did not consider either point sufficient because South Korean users could still interact with markets using crypto.
Local authorities also examined markets connected specifically to South Korea. One example cited during the proceedings involved a contract on rainfall in Seoul during August, which regulators considered evidence that the platform continued offering markets relevant to users in the country.
The latest action follows an earlier criminal investigation into users of the platform. South Korean police began investigating Polymarket users in late May over allegations that domestic users had participated in illegal gambling through election-related prediction markets.
That investigation was the first known South Korean police probe focused directly on Polymarket users. Authorities were examining whether trades made through the platform violated domestic rules that prohibit most forms of privately operated gambling.
Before reaching its latest decision, the review committee also sought opinions from the National Police Agency, the National Gambling Control Commission and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. According to the regulator, the agencies said Polymarket’s operating structure could fall within provisions covering gambling and the establishment of gambling venues.
Polymarket blocks add up across several countries
South Korea’s action comes after several governments have restricted Polymarket under their domestic gambling rules.
India blocked access to Polymarket in May after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology instructed internet service providers to restrict prediction market and online betting platforms classified as illegal money gaming services.
Indian authorities had issued an April 25 advisory directing internet service providers and VPN operators to prevent access to blocked prediction market and betting platforms, with Polymarket among the services targeted. Officials also raised concerns about stablecoin payments, offshore betting activity and capital moving outside monitored financial channels.
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic ordered internet providers to block Polymarket in July after authorities treated the platform as an unauthorized gambling service. The Czech action followed restrictions in countries including Argentina, India and Spain.
South Korean regulators also referred to enforcement elsewhere when considering Polymarket’s status. France blocked access beginning July 16 over concerns including the possibility of large user losses and manipulation of bets, while Australia and Germany had taken blocking measures in August and September 2025, respectively.
Polymarket’s position remains that its non-custodial structure separates it from conventional gambling operators because transactions take place between users through smart contracts. The South Korean committee said technical characteristics and the way a service is delivered do not remove the application of domestic law when the service is accessible to local users.
In its Aug. 18 decision, the regulator said Polymarket’s markets still expose domestic users to a winner-takes-all financial structure based on uncertain events outside their control and maintained that blocking access was necessary to protect users from what it classified as an illegal gambling environment.
