South Korea has ordered internet providers to block access to Polymarket, concluding the crypto-based prediction market creates an illegal gambling environment for domestic users. What regulators decided - On Aug. 18 the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Review Committee voted to issue a corrective request to block Polymarket, finding parts of the platform fall under South Korea’s Criminal Act and the National Sports Promotion Act provisions that prohibit facilitating gambling and opening gambling venues. - The committee said Polymarket’s winner-takes-all market structure — where users trade shares tied to outcomes like politics, elections, sports, weather and economics — can produce extreme gains or losses from events users cannot control, encouraging speculative gambling behaviour. Why the regulator acted - The review examined how Polymarket creates markets, sets trading rules, processes crypto deposits and withdrawals, settles trades, and collects fees. Regulators concluded that the platform operator’s control over market creation, trading rules and the settlement infrastructure effectively creates a system that collects and distributes user funds and yields economic benefit via transaction fees. - Regulators pointed to domestic-relevant markets (for example, a contract on August rainfall in Seoul) and stressed that the absence of a Korean-language interface or support for Korean won does not prevent South Korean users from participating via cryptocurrency. Polymarket’s response and the committee’s rejection - Polymarket argued during the hearing that its model is non-custodial, peer-to-peer and enforced by smart contracts, so the platform itself is not the organiser of wagers, does not custody user funds and therefore falls outside gambling rules. - The committee rejected that technical architecture exempts the service from domestic law, saying decentralised technology or the presence of centralized components such as a trading interface and order book cannot be used to evade legal obligations. Enforcement context and prior steps - The corrective request follows weeks of review and a July hearing in which Polymarket presented its case. The committee also solicited input from the National Police Agency, the National Gambling Control Commission and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, which flagged that Polymarket’s operating structure could fit definitions of gambling and gambling venues. - Earlier, South Korean police opened a criminal probe in late May into users who allegedly placed bets on election-related prediction markets, marking the first known domestic police focus on Polymarket users. Global backdrop - South Korea’s move echoes actions by other jurisdictions concerned about prediction markets. India ordered blocks on Polymarket in May after its Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology instructed ISPs to restrict platforms labelled as illegal money gaming services; authorities there also warned about stablecoin payments and offshore betting channels. - The Czech Republic ordered blocks in July, France blocked access from July 16 citing risk of large losses and manipulation, and other countries including Argentina, Spain, Australia and Germany have taken or considered restrictions. What this means - The regulator framed the block as a user-protection measure against what it views as an illegal gambling environment. Polymarket maintains its non-custodial setup separates it from traditional betting operators, but South Korean authorities say accessibility to local users brings the service within domestic law regardless of technical design. - For South Korean users, the directive could limit on-ramps to Polymarket; regulators noted that even with Korean-language services removed and KRW payments disabled, crypto-based access remained possible — a key factor in the decision to block. This decision is likely to intensify scrutiny on prediction markets worldwide as regulators weigh how decentralised platforms intersect with domestic gambling and financial rules. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news