Polymarket blocked in another European country

The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency is the latest European gambling regulator to block the prediction market platform.

Italy.- It’s not been a great week for Polymarket’s attempts to expand into Europe. After the Dutch gambling regulator KSA upheld its threat of fines against the prediction platform, authorities have now ordered the platform to be blocked in Italy.

Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency’s (ADM), which regulates gambling in the country, has added Polymarket to its list of blocked gambling websites. It’s the second time that the regulator has made such a move, grouping the New York–headquartered cryptocurrency-based predictions platform with illegal offshore betting firms.

Stefano Tino, Managing Director of Betsson’s Southern Europe division, welcomed the decision. He wrote on LinkedIn: “I was pleased to learn that Polymarket has now been added, again, to the ADM blacklist of unauthorised gambling websites in Italy. I would like to congratulate the Italian regulator for reaffirming what I believe is a fundamental principle of every regulated market: the same rules must apply to everyone.”

Italy remains one of Europe’s largest betting markets. The online sector came in for an overhaul last year with the issuance of new licences to a reduced group of 46 operators, with the ability to run skins now removed. Gross gambling revenue in December totalled €333.7m.

As recalled by specialist local media site Agipro, Polymarket was previously blocked in Italy in late 2025 but was unblocked shortly afterwards under legal proceedings at the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio. The ADM’s renewed action now requires a report to be submitted to the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office, potentially opening the door to criminal proceedings.

Doors close for prediction markets in Europe

Prediction platforms are increasingly coming into conflict with European gambling regulators. Polymarket was blocked in France in 2024, in Belgium in 2025 and subject to a temporary blocking order in Spain alongside rival Kalshi in April of this year.

Last month, nine European regulators announced a joint initiative against prediction markets, warning consumers over player protection and market integrity risks. Meanwhile, the German gambling regulator, the GGL, recently launched an investigation into FIFA partner ADI Predictstreet, which received a gambling licence in Gibraltar earlier this year.

For its part, The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has cautioned that some prediction products could be deemed restricted financial instruments in the European Union (EU). It affirmed that prediction markets structured as yes-or-no contracts with fixed payouts may fall under prohibitions on the marketing and sale of binary options to retail customers.

The timing of the Italian regulator’s latest decision is sensitive for Serie A’s SS Lazio, which signed Polymarket as its main sponsor in April 2026 in a deal worth €19m. That deal is due to last through 2027/28, with an option for extension to 2028/29, but Lazio now risks breaching Italian penal law, which prohibits the advertising of unlicensed betting.