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The Netherlands has reaffirmed its position on prediction markets, dealing another setback to Polymarket’s efforts to avoid gambling regulation.
The Dutch Gambling Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has rejected an appeal from Adventure One QSS Inc., the company behind Polymarket, ruling that the platform’s markets remain subject to Dutch gambling law. The decision, published on June 23, leaves the door open for enforcement if the operator fails to meet local licensing requirements.
Blockchain Argument Fails to Convince
At the heart of the dispute was Polymarket’s claim that it functions as an open-source blockchain protocol where users trade directly with one another rather than place traditional bets.
The company also argued that prediction markets can resemble financial products instead of gambling services.
Dutch regulators were not persuaded. In their assessment, users are still staking value on uncertain future events, with chance playing a decisive role in the outcome. The underlying blockchain infrastructure and cryptocurrency payments, the KSA concluded, do not alter the legal nature of the activity.
That finding reinforces the regulator’s long-held view that prediction markets offered in the Netherlands fall within existing gambling legislation.
Marketing Helped Shape the Decision
The KSA’s reasoning extended beyond the platform’s technology.
Regulators examined Polymarket’s Dutch-language marketing and concluded that it promoted the opportunity to earn money by wagering on future events. That style of messaging, in the authority’s view, aligned more closely with gambling promotion than with advertising for financial products.
The platform’s use of Dutch-language content also attracted attention. The regulator interpreted it as evidence that the service was actively targeting consumers in the Netherlands, strengthening the case for applying domestic gambling rules.
The decision adds another chapter to a broader European debate over prediction markets. As platforms built on blockchain continue to blur the line between financial trading and betting, regulators across the region are increasingly being forced to decide where one ends and the other begins.
Source: igamingexpress.com
