Argentina has ordered a nationwide block on prediction market Polymarket after a Buenos Aires court found the platform was operating without local approval and exposed users to gambling-related risks.
The ruling directs 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’s mobile apps for users in the country. The measure is being carried out through ENACOM, Argentina’s communications regulator.
The case was pushed by the City of Buenos Aires Lottery, or LOTBA, and backed by casino industry group Câmara Argentina de Salas de Casinos, Bindos y Anexos (CASCBA). Prosecutors said Polymarket presents itself as a prediction market but works in practice like a betting platform, where users stake money on yes-or-no outcomes tied to politics, inflation, wars and other headline events.
The probe gained attention after Polymarket appeared to point to Argentina’s February inflation figure shortly before the official INDEC release. That market saw a major swing ahead of the data’s official release, suggesting some acted on privileged information.
Still, authorities said they centered their case on the platform’s legal status and consumer safeguards.
Officials said the site allowed funding through crypto and credit cards, did not apply strong identity or age checks and let users open accounts within minutes. Prosecutors argued that the setup made it easier for minors and other vulnerable users to access gambling products.
The move follows a plethora 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 wider crackdown on online betting. There’s currently no legal way for Polymarket to operate in that country, according to Dmitry Nikolaievskyi, chief legal officer at the Project Office for the Development of Ukraine’s Digital Economy at the Ministry of Digital Transformation.