Polymarket takes the Dutch Gambling Authority to court, while the Spanish Gambling Authority maintains the blockade
The platform defends that its contracts are financial derivatives and not gambling.
Polymarket has appealed to the courts in The Hague against the ban imposed on it by the Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA), Dutch business daily Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday. The prediction market platform argues that its contracts are financial derivatives and should therefore be supervised by the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) and not the gambling regulator.
The litigation stems from the order that the KSA issued at the beginning of 2026. It forced Polymarket to block Dutch users under a fine of €420,000 per week, with a maximum of €840,000. According to the regulator, the company activated the IP block after the deadline, for which it was imposed the first fine of €420,000. The KSA rejected Polymarket's objection in June , and now the case goes to court.
The KSA considers prediction markets to be unlicensed gambling, because users bet money on an uncertain outcome. Its director, Ella Seijsener, has stated that these companies offer "bets that are not allowed in our market under any circumstances". In the Netherlands, only bets on sports can be offered.
Gambling lawyer Micha Schimmel, quoted by the Dutch press, recalls that "a service can be a financial product and still count as a game", in reference to a 2015 ruling.
Spain already closed the door in May. On May 26, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, through the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling, opened disciplinary proceedings against Polymarket and Kalshi and ordered their websites to be blocked as a precautionary measure. Both operated in Spain "without having the mandatory administrative authorization." The sector then celebrated the decision, as reported by Infoplay in Jdigital's reaction to the temporary closure of Polymarket and Kalshi.
The General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling estimated that the procedure would last between three and four months, but for now the final resolution of the file is not publicly recorded.
The Dutch appeal comes at a time of increasing regulatory pressure on these platforms in Europe, where they operate without a gambling license, as Infoplay explained in why these sites are illegal in Europe. Polymarket itself has incorporated limits and self-exclusion while increasing demands for it to be regulated.
