Polymarket faces a ban in Singapore over gambling laws.
Polymarket, a prediction platform built on blockchain technology, has been prohibited in Singapore for functioning as an unlicensed gambling website.
This ban is in accordance with Singapore’s stringent gambling regulations, permitting betting solely through operators approved by the state. The ban increases the regulatory challenges that Polymarket is already facing in both the United States and France.
On January 12, Alex Zuo, who serves as the Vice President of Investment and Custody at Cobo Global, shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Singapore has officially designated Polymarket as a gambling site. This classification has resulted in limited access for users.
In Singapore, the law mandates that all bets must be placed exclusively through licensed operators. Violating this regulation can lead to serious consequences, including fines that may reach $10,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or a combination of both penalties. Zuo issued alerts to users in Singapore, cautioning them about the risks of using unlicensed services.
Polymarket, which started in 2020, enables users to place bets on actual events such as elections and natural disasters. The innovative application of blockchain technology to measure public opinion has drawn considerable interest from investors, including billionaire Peter Thiel.
The platform has previously encountered regulatory scrutiny. The National Gaming Authority (ANJ) in France is looking into Polymarket following a user’s significant wagers on the upcoming 2024 US presidential election. In France, online gambling is strictly regulated by laws that allow only certain types of sports betting and poker games.
Polymarket’s situation is particularly serious in the United States. Coinbase has received a subpoena from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requesting information regarding user interactions with Polymarket. The CFTC fined Polymarket $1.4 million for allegedly running unregistered prediction markets, resulting in an agreement to cease services for US users.
