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Authorities in Ukraine have restricted access to Polymarket, pointing to the platform’s failure to hold the licence required for activities deemed gambling under national law.
The National Commission for State Regulation of Electronic Communications (NCEC) enforced the block through Resolution No. 695, making the decision binding across the country.
PlayCity, the state body tasked with monitoring gambling and betting, including online platforms, first issued its findings in November. The agency’s role is to check whether operators comply with licensing rules and consumer protection standards, and its review concluded that Polymarket was not in line with those requirements.
The regulator then shared its findings with the National Commission for the Development of the Economy, and last December, the commission confirmed PlayCity’s assessment and formally ordered the restriction, effectively preventing Polymarket from operating in Ukraine.
Russia/Ukraine war trades among reasons for ban
Polymarket came under fire in Ukraine in 2025 for allowing bets tied to the war, including markets on when cities in Donbas might be occupied. Reports showed that in November alone, 97 war‑related bets were placed, worth almost $97 million.
The platform also used data from the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState without permission, linking it to wagers on the occupation of Ukrainian territory. Soon after, the Institute for the Study of War faced criticism when changes to its Ukraine map were used as the basis for betting on Polymarket.
By December, the platform had already completed around 240 Ukraine‑related markets with a total volume of more than $270 million, while another 120 active bets exceeded $140 million. Even now, dozens of live markets remain connected to Ukraine.
Ukrainian law allows electronic communications providers to block online resources that offer gambling without a license. Polymarket’s domain has been added to the public registry of restricted sites.
Prediction markets continue to face heat worldwide
Pressure on prediction platforms has spread across borders, with regulators in Tennessee ordering Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com to halt sports event contracts.
Letters sent on January 9 by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council instructed the companies to shut down operations in the state, cancel open contracts, and return deposits by the end of the month.
The council warned that ignoring the directive could lead to criminal referrals for aggravated gambling promotion, a felony under state law, along with civil fines of up to $25,000 for each violation.
Belgium, France, Thailand, Singapore, and Poland have also restricted access to Polymarket, each pointing to similar concerns about unlicensed activity.
Elsewhere, Romania added Polymarket to its blacklist in November, citing more than $600 million in wagers on presidential and local elections. Officials there said the platform functions as an unlicensed gambling service because it lets users bet against each other on future events, which falls under national gambling rules.
Despite these bans, the platform continues to operate in jurisdictions where no restrictions exist, including the United States, where it recently secured approval to run legally.
Source: MEXC
