Argentina Orders Nationwide Block on Polymarket Over Unlicensed Gambling

The court ordered Google and Apple to restrict Polymarket after investigators flagged unregulated betting and missing identity checks across Argentina.

Argentina has moved to restrict access to the prediction market platform Polymarket after a Buenos Aires court determined it was operating as an unauthorized betting service.

In a ruling issued by Judge Susana Parada, authorities ordered a country-wide block on the website and instructed Google and Apple to remove or limit access to its application on mobile devices.

No License, No Limits

The measure comes after an investigation by Prosecutor Juan Rozas, who oversees gambling-related cases in the city. As part of the enforcement, the telecom regulator Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM) has been directed to ensure internet service providers prevent access to the platform within the country.

The probe concluded that Polymarket allowed users to trade on the outcomes of real-world events without complying with gambling regulations. Prosecutors said accounts could be created rapidly without identity or age checks, which ended up enabling unrestricted participation, including by minors.

They further stated that the platform facilitated payments via cryptocurrencies and credit cards without applying the controls required for regulated betting operations. The case was triggered by a complaint from the Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, which alleged that the platform was offering services locally without authorization. Additional verification conducted with the Asociación de Loterías Estatales de Argentina found no record of Polymarket holding a licence in any jurisdiction.

The court’s decision surfaced publicly during a broader controversy linked to Argentina’s inflation data. Shortly before the release of February figures by the national statistics agency INDEC, market probabilities on international prediction platforms moved toward a higher reading.

While analysts had largely estimated inflation between 2.6% and 2.8%, the official figure came in at 2.9%. Activity on Polymarket tied to that data point saw trading volumes rise to roughly $91,000 in the minutes preceding publication, which led some observers to question whether the data had circulated in advance.

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The development adds to a growing trend of regulatory crackdowns on prediction market services, with companies like Polymarket and Kalshi increasingly coming under legal or supervisory pressure in a range of jurisdictions, among them France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Portugal, Hungary, Thailand, and the Netherlands.

Polymarket Intelligence Misuse

Earlier this year, Israeli authorities formally charged an IDF reservist and a civilian over alleged misuse of classified military intelligence to gain an advantage on the prediction platform. A joint probe by the Defense Ministry, Shin Bet, and national police found that sensitive operational knowledge may have been leveraged to place high-confidence bets on future military developments.

Prosecutors filed serious charges, including security violations, bribery, and obstruction of justice, while a court-imposed gag order limits further disclosures.