Simply put
- Romania’s gambling regulator has blacklisted the country’s Polymarket.
- The regulator said it met the definition of counterparty gambling because users place bets and future events determine the outcome.
- Of particular concern was the growing volume of transactions related to Romania’s elections, which amounted to millions of dollars.
Leading prediction market Polimarket has been placed on the blacklist of unauthorized websites by the Romanian National Gaming Authority (ONJN), the regulator announced on Thursday.
The company was banned in Romania for operating gambling activities without a license.
“The decision to blacklist Polymarket is not about technology, but about law,” ONJN President Vlad Christian Soare said in a statement. “When you bet money on future outcomes under comparable wagering conditions, whether you bet on rays or virtual currencies, we are talking about gambling that requires a license.”
“ONJN will not allow blockchain to be turned into a screen for illegal gambling,” he added.
The regulator said Polymarket, although often characterized as an “event trading platform,” meets the definition of “counterparty betting” because users place bets against other users and future events determine the outcome.
“Accepting the idea that a system of ‘counterparty betting’ can be called a ‘trading’ creates a dangerous precedent, allowing any operator to ‘reinterpret’ counterparty betting activities as stock exchange activities, thereby circumventing strict gambling and capital markets regulation.” the regulator wrote.
Of particular concern to regulators was an increase in prediction market activity during Romania’s local elections. For example, a market on Polymarket asks users to predict the mayor of the capital, Bucharest. Earned trading volume of over $16 million.
At an election market earlier this year, Generated more than $370 million in total.
decryption Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Polymarkets have attracted scrutiny in other parts of the world for similar reasons. Last year, the French National Gambling Authority Plans to ban prediction platforms Results of an investigation into compliance with French gambling law.
The platform was effectively banned in the US following a 2022 fine from the CFTC. However, in July, the company acquired derivatives exchange QCX. I received a no-action letter from a regulatory agency.effectively allowing markets to resume activity in the United States.
Polymarket recently received a $2 billion investment from Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange. salary increase The company was valued at about $9 billion.
In Myriad’s prediction market, nearly four out of five respondents did not expect Polymarket to officially announce a token this year, although executives recently confirmed plans for the token. (Disclaimer: Myriad is a division of Dastan, the parent company of editorially independent companies. decryption. )
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