[NEWS]Netherlands Bans Polymarket Over "Illegal Gambling Services"

[acroman08]

The Netherlands has banned Polymarket from the country as it deemed the platform as a gambling paltform that is operating without a license.

according to the article, the Netherlands ordered Polymarket to cease offering service to its Dutch users, and if they fail to comply with the order, they will be fined €420,000 per week, up to a maximum of €840,000.

For those who don't know, there have been discussions/debates as to what Polymarket is. There are people/countries who say that it is a gambling platform, while there are people/countries who say that it is a prediction market. Personally, and I've said this before, I think Polymarket should be considered as a gambling platform, and to be honest, I think their "prediction market" claim is just an excuse for them to bypass restrictions that would be imposed on them if they called themselves a gambling platform. This is just my opinion, so you can agree or disagree with it.

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (Ksa) has imposed a penalty order on Adventure One QSS Inc., the operator of prediction market platform Polymarket, for offering what it called illegal gambling services in the country without a license. It marks the latest legal setback for the company as regulators worldwide intensify scrutiny of the sector.

In a statement published Tuesday, the Ksa said it had ordered Polymarket to immediately cease offering services to Dutch users. If the company fails to comply, it will be fined €420,000 ($462,000) per week, up to a maximum of €840,000 ($924,000).

“Prediction markets are on the rise, including in the Netherlands,” said Ella Seijsener, director of licensing and supervision at the Ksa. “These types of companies offer bets that are not permitted in our market under any circumstances, not even by license holders.”

Citing the “social risks” of prediction market offerings, “for example, the potential influence on elections,” Seijsener said that the platform “constitutes illegal gambling.” She added that, “Anyone without a Ksa license has no business in our market. This also applies to these new gambling platforms.”

[Sithara007]

Polymarket operates out of New York, NY. These European Commie jokers don't even know that it is technically impossible to ban an online service. You can just use a VPN and access whatever sites which they have banned. And these idiots seems to ban each and everything they don't like. A few months back, I was visiting Netherlands and I had to use a VPN to access Stake (obviously they even banned Stake in Netherlands). I used a free VPN available online and got around with that ban. Perhaps their policy makers are not educated enough or not intelligent enough to figure out that these bans doesn't mean anything to ordinary users.

[Shinpako09]

Kinda useless since there’s VPN anyway. Well, a prediction market is basically gambling, they just use a different term. They use that loophole so they aren’t subject to gambling taxes and other regulations. It’s not that different from sports betting, where you place a bet and predict the outcome. But banning it won’t really do anything since people in their country can still access it using a VPN. Unless the prediction market itself restricts users from countries like the Netherlands.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Netherland is just making the list of EU countries who ban Poly becomes much longer. No doubt since Poly was operated there without even being licensed. So they have to ban it. It's interesting to see how they will deal with massive bans come to them. I know users could use VPN, but i think they're dumb enough to play in the said that being listed as illegal.

A part from that the talk about whether Poly is a gambling platform or not has been getting a lot of attention from various parties. Mine is considering as a gambling platform with the extra step. It's pretty much the same like sport betting, but the prediction contract can be bought it.
So i don't see a reason to call it different than a regular gambling platform. The way to bet on prediction market is just a bit complicated than a regular gambling platform. That's it.

[mindrust]

Boo fucking hoo. They also passed the law to tax unrealized gains on stocks and crypto recently. At this point the Netherlands is committing suicide or they are getting sabotaged. I find first scenario to be more realistic since I see some Dutch people have no problems with what’s going on.

Look where we are now. We can’t even use our crypto to bet on future events. We are cooked.

[bitbollo]

in EU there are monopolies in each country with "local" websites/licenses (to be honest only big bookmakers can afford these licenses )
gambling platforms just doesn't accept players without proper document - or you find a "dummy" (illegal) or you can't play unless you prove to live OUT of a country.

About polymarket... I have never used it. Anyway if the service has not a "strong" KYC police/system, it could be easily used from everywhere.
These kinds of block (in certain cases a sophisticated monopoly) are really dangerous but bitcoin solved this.

[Kelward]

So i don't see a reason to call it different than a regular gambling platform. The way to bet on prediction market is just a bit complicated than a regular gambling platform. That's it.

I didn't know that these much countries have banned Polymarket from operating in their regions, I think that the prediction site should do something about it by reaching a regulatory agreement with them so it doesn't seem like they're encouraging illegality in the countries. It is true that bettors can bypass bans through VPN but I think Polymarket has a moral obligation to negotiate a regulatory deal with them afterall they're doing business and making profit in those counties.

As for what Polymarket is it is a gambling site, no doubt about that

[DPHOR]

Sometimes I wonder how people reasons and thinks over this thing called predictions market.. why must it be prediction market?
Now, to me I take it to be gambling site why?
Because gambling is anything you put, bet, staked and or even wagered to get a specific amount in the duration of time, certain time to earn back money in return is presumptuously a gambling site. People should stopped painting Black white and seeing white calling it black, polymarket is gambling site and there is nothing changes it. Why must they operate without them passing the regulatory law or even being licensed in the country they are operating with?

[rbynxx]

The Netherlands has banned Polymarket from the country as it deemed the platform as a gambling paltform that is operating without a license.

according to the article, the Netherlands ordered Polymarket to cease offering service to its Dutch users, and if they fail to comply with the order, they will be fined €420,000 per week, up to a maximum of €840,000.

For those who don't know, there have been discussions/debates as to what Polymarket is. There are people/countries who say that it is a gambling platform, while there are people/countries who say that it is a prediction market. Personally, and I've said this before, I think Polymarket should be considered as a gambling platform, and to be honest, I think their "prediction market" claim is just an excuse for them to bypass restrictions that would be imposed on them if they called themselves a gambling platform. This is just my opinion, so you can agree or disagree with it.

I think Netherlands aren't that blind, it's just named prediction market but it's a form of gambling too and they have every right to protect their citizens. I guess Polymarket will either comply or they'll cease their operation there. I do agree with you, it's just a blatant excuse to name it that way, even a child can tell that it's a form of gambling and that's no different from making some predictions on any casinos that offers bets on teams and players.

[davis196]

Polymarket operates out of New York, NY. These European Commie jokers don't even know that it is technically impossible to ban an online service. You can just use a VPN and access whatever sites which they have banned. And these idiots seems to ban each and everything they don't like. A few months back, I was visiting Netherlands and I had to use a VPN to access Stake (obviously they even banned Stake in Netherlands). I used a free VPN available online and got around with that ban. Perhaps their policy makers are not educated enough or not intelligent enough to figure out that these bans doesn't mean anything to ordinary users.

What "European commie jokers" are you talking about? The ban is being imposed by the government of Netherlands, not by the European Commission. I know that VPNs/proxies are a way to bypass those country restrictions, but the casinos/sportsbooks might start acting sketchy, if hey find out that you are using a VPN. Polymarket is a gambling platform and it shouldn't be treated differently than the other gambling platforms. I'm against gambling bans. The casinos/sportsbooks/prediction markets should be allowed to operate, but they must pay gambling taxes for their revenue.

[viljy]

If licensing of the gambling business is required, but the Polymarket does not have a license under the pretext that it is a "prediction market", then the ban is certainly legitimate. Any bet in a gambling game or in a bookmaker's office is a prediction. Consequently, the prediction market is a gambling hub, meaning it is essentially a conglomerate of bookmakers and ordinary bets on anything. In Europe, they like to impose fines on American companies (this is such a "business"). So it's the turn of the Polymarket.

[iv4n]

There are people/countries who say that it is a gambling platform, while there are people/countries who say that it is a prediction market.

I find this part funny... So when we place a bet on some team to win, we are gambling, but when we place a bet on some presidential election, we are not gambling; we are predicting.

Seijsener said that the platform “constitutes illegal gambling.” She added that, “Anyone without a Ksa license has no business in our market. This also applies to these new gambling platforms.”

So if I understand this correctly, if a new gambling platform applies for a KSA licence, pays all the fees & taxes, then everything will be fine. Just give them some money (their cut), and they will be quiet... that's what "regulation" actually means.

[CryptSafe]

What I see here is that the government is always against anything that does not favour them. They have displayed that in many situations that seem questionable, so Polymarket is not the first to have such an encounter with the Canadian government, and if you will ask me, I will advise the Polymarket to go to negotiation table with the government if they still want to exist within that jurisdiction but if not, they should peacefully leave them and go their way afterall the space is big enough for them to make good profit if they want to.

[sunsilk]

That would easy for polymarket if they think that the Netherlands customers are quite big, they'd pay that hefty fine.

I am not sure what is the stats they have there but the Dutch government has started it.

And what I'm guessing, other countries where they've got users might follow suit. They'd also going to ask them for a licensing fee that's going to cost a lot.

[danherbias07]

No, this might just be some tactics of the big online gambling sites there. Pay the government to kick out one of them, so the customers are only for them. Or, Polymarket is not paying the government anything, so it has to be banned. It's always about the damn money.

Let's face it, it's a corrupted world in every government, and since online gambling and sports betting are growing industries, they would want every cent they can get from them. Since Polymarket is not legal and won't be paying any tax, it should be banned. Still, they cannot stop a gambler who will use the service through a VPN. It's not a win-win situation for them.

[Charles-Tim]

Polymarket and other prediction markets will argue that they are not gambling sites. This is because they are also similar to trading so they prefer to choose themselves to be similar to trading. So, they prefer to just call themselves a new name which is prediction sites.

In reality, with what I have learned about prediction sites, they are gambling sites. No one should deceive anyone.

[nimogsm]

If it's not profitable for you, block it. This is precisely the government's approach, and I'm sure the list will continue over time. I seriously doubt this will stop European users, as it's already been said that VPN access continues, and blocking is relatively straightforward. It would be better to consider insider forecasts and why government information sometimes leaks. That's the problem, not the license.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

“Prediction markets are on the rise, including in the Netherlands,” said Ella Seijsener, director of licensing and supervision at the Ksa. “These types of companies offer bets that are not permitted in our market under any circumstances, not even by license holders.”

I remember I asked a question relating to this particular idea, when the prediction market as they called themselves became very popular and started offering bets that looked weird to me such as bets on war and some natural disasters, then I asked if it's all country that will truly accept this types of bet that is being offered. Around last year, I think a country also banned them and now this.

In reality, with what I have learned about prediction sites, they are gambling sites. No one should deceive anyone.

This is an 'onest truth but some people even say that they are an investment platform meanwhile investment is supposed to give someone a guaranteed profit unlike prediction market that profit depends on luck.