Romanian gambling regulator bans Polymarket
The regulator says it saw an “explosive increase“ in unauthorised betting via the platform during Romania’s presidential elections in May.
Romania.- The Romanian National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has joined the growing list of gambling regulators to formally prohibit the blockchain-based prediction and event trading platform Polymarket from operating within its jurisdiction. The regulator said it had seen an “explosive increase“ in unauthorised betting via the platform during the presidential elections in May.
According to ONJN, Polymarket saw over $600m in transactions tied to the Romania elections and an $15m related to Bucharest’s municipal elections. While these figures reflect aggregate trades between participants rather than individual wagers, the regulator argued they represent a “significant level of unregulated betting activity taking place outside state control.”
Polymarket has now been added to Romania’s blacklist of unlicensed gambling entities. Despite describing itself as a prediction or event-trading service, Polymarket meets the criteria to be deemed a “counterparty betting operator” under Romanian law, the ONJN said. It argued that the platform enables users to place bets on future outcomes across various markets and collects commissions on these wagers without holding a valid Romanian gambling licence.
The regulator warned that this compromises consumer safeguards, anti-money laundering protocols, and fiscal oversight, while also infringing on Romania’s state monopoly over gambling services. “It would be a reckless precedent to allow counterparty betting to be recast as trading,” the regulator stated, expressing concern over the platform’s growing popularity as a “smart betting alternative” despite its lack of regulatory approval.
Users were reminded that engaging in or promoting unlicensed gambling constitutes a misdemeanor under Government Emergency Ordinance 77/2009, and can result in financial penalties for both participants and promoters.
The ONJN’s action makes Romania the fourth EU member state to formally prohibit Polymarket, following measures taken by France Poland, and Belgium. France’s Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) took action last year after a probe into a €30m prediction placed on the US presidential election. Polymarket then agreed to use geoblocking in the country.
Poland’s Ministry of Finance later added polymarket.com to its Register of Illegal Gambling Domains and Belgium’s Kansspelcommissie (KSC) ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket in January after it reportedly failed to comply with national gambling laws. Colombia has also issued a prohibition, and Polymarket has been sanctioned by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US.
