Argentina Orders National Ban on Polymarket for Unauthorized Gambling

A court has ordered Google and Apple to restrict Polymarket after investigators raised the alarm about illegal betting and missing ID checks across Argentina.

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

In a decision issued by Judge Susana Parada, the authorities ordered a nationwide ban on the website and ordered Google and Apple to remove or limit access to its application on mobile devices.

No License, No Restrictions

The move comes after an investigation by Prosecutor Juan Rozas, who oversees gambling-related cases in the city. As part of the enforcement, the communications regulator Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM) was ordered to ensure that Internet service providers prevent access to the platform in the country.

The investigation concluded that Polymarket allowed users to trade the results of real-world events without complying with gambling regulations. Prosecutors say accounts can be created quickly without identity or age verification, ultimately allowing unlimited participation, including by children.

They also say the platform facilitates payments via cryptocurrencies and credit cards without using the controls required for regulated betting operations. The case was initiated by a complaint from the Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, who alleged that the platform was providing services in the area without authorization. Further verifications made with the Asociación de Loterías Estatales de Argentina found no record of Polymarket holding a license in any jurisdiction.

The court’s decision became public during a wide-ranging controversy related to Argentina’s inflation data. Just before the release of February statistics by the national statistics center INDEC, market opportunities in global forecasting platforms reached a high reading.

While analysts had widely estimated inflation between 2.6% and 2.8%, the official figure came in at 2.9%. An activity on Polymarket linked to that data point saw trading volumes rise to $91,000 in the minutes before publication, leading some observers to question whether the data was pre-distributed.

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The development adds to a growing trend of breaches in the prediction market services, with companies such as Polymarket and Kalshi increasingly coming under legal or regulatory pressure in many jurisdictions, including France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Portugal, Hungary, Thailand, and the Netherlands.

Abuse of Polymarket Spyware

Earlier this year, Israeli authorities formally charged the IDF and the civilian population for allegedly misusing military intelligence to profit from the forecast. A joint investigation by the Ministry of Defense, the Shin Bet, and the national police found that sensitive operational information may have been used to bet greater confidence in future military developments.

Prosecutors have filed serious charges, including security breaches, bribery, and obstruction of justice, while a court order prevents further disclosure.