Romania blacklists Polymarket for illegal crypto betting amid $600M election wagers

Polymarket’s ban in Romania follows similar crackdowns in the US, France, Belgium, Poland, Singapore and Thailand, where regulators cited unlicensed gambling activity.

Romania’s National Office for Gambling (ONJN) has blacklisted leading prediction market Polymarket, calling it an unlicensed gambling platform operating outside state oversight.

The decision follows what regulators described as a surge in crypto-based betting during Romania’s presidential and local elections, where Polymarket’s trading volume reportedly exceeded $600 million, according to a recent statement from the regulator.

ONJN added that the platform’s activity constitutes “counterpart betting,” meaning users wager money against one another on the outcomes of future events, a model that falls squarely under gambling laws, regardless of its blockchain-based format.

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