Argentina ordered a nationwide block on prediction market Polymarket after a Buenos Aires court found the platform was operating without local approval and exposing users to gambling-related risks.
The ruling orders internet providers across the country to block access to the site and its related domains, according to local media.
It also ordered Apple and Google to remove or restrict Polymarket mobile applications for users in the country. The measure is being implemented through ENACOM, Argentina’s communications regulator.
The case was brought by the Buenos Aires City Lottery, or LOTBA, and backed by the casino industry group Câmara Argentina de Salas de Casinos, Bindos y Annexes (CASCBA). Prosecutors said Polymarket presents itself as a prediction market but operates in practice as a betting platform, where users bet money on yes-or-no outcomes related to politics, inflation, wars and other major events.
The investigation drew attention after Polymarket appeared to point to Argentina’s February inflation figure shortly before the official INDEC publication. That market saw a big swing before the official release of the data, suggesting that some acted on insider information.
Still, authorities said they focused their case on the platform’s legal status and consumer safeguards.
Officials said the site allowed financing through cryptocurrency and credit cards, did not enforce strict identity or age controls, and allowed users to open accounts in a matter of minutes. Prosecutors argued that the setup made it easier for minors and other vulnerable users to access gaming products.
The move follows a host of other countries treating Polymarket as an unlicensed gambling platform. The prediction market already restricts or blocks access to users in more than 30 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Poland.
In some markets, regulators have gone further. Ukraine ordered internet providers to block the site earlier this year, as part of a broader crackdown on online gambling. There is currently no legal way for Polymarket to operate in that country, according to Dmitry Nikolaievskyi, legal director of the Project Office for the Development of Ukraine’s Digital Economy at the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
