Polymarket has filed an appeal in The Hague against a €420,000 penalty imposed by the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). Parent company Adventure One is contesting the sanction over an alleged one-day delay in blocking access for users in the Netherlands.
The KSA blacklisted Polymarket earlier this year for offering unlicensed gambling services to Dutch consumers, ordering Adventure One to block platform access by 17 February. The company completed the technical implementation on 18 February. Adventure One argues it began work on the block on time but left access open during the testing phase for technical reasons. The regulator rejected the explanation, citing a formal breach of deadline.
The regulatory status of prediction markets in the Netherlands remains contested. Member of Parliament Iem Al Biyati recently proposed separate regulation for such platforms, but the initiative was rejected—the KSA classifies them as gambling. Gibraltar has adopted the first dedicated licence for prediction markets, Malta is considering a similar framework, and Polymarket rival Kalshi is in talks with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
Both Polymarket and Kalshi are registered in the United States, where their contracts are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as financial instruments. But their status is disputed there too: New York, Arizona, Massachusetts and Minnesota reject the financial classification, treating prediction markets as gambling. National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) executive director Heather Maurer stepped down in October after ten months in the role—months after a $2 million NCPG partnership with Kalshi prompted several regional organisations to leave.
