Denmark has blocked prediction market platform Polymarket as part of a wider crackdown on unlicensed gambling websites.
Polymarket is one of 98 gambling websites blocked by the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) after the Frederiksberg Court ruled that the sites were offering gambling services to Danish users without the required licence.
The court issued its ruling on 8 July, and Polymarket has appealed the decision, local industry publication BetXpert reported, citing information from Teleindustrien shared with Danish broadcaster TV 2.
Danish internet providers are enforcing the restriction through DNS blocking. Visitors attempting to access the affected websites are redirected to a notice saying the sites are illegal in Denmark.
Tax and Growth Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt specifically criticised Polymarket over markets linked to wars and other serious events. “A human life is not a betting slip. And war should not be something you can sit at home on the sofa and speculate on to make money,” he said in a statement.
Danish law requires gambling operators to hold a licence when offering services in Denmark or targeting Danish customers. Factors indicating that a service is aimed at the Danish market include Danish-language content, payments in Danish currency, Danish payment cards, local customer support, and betting products tailored to Danish users.
The block comes after months of scrutiny of prediction-market platforms. In February, Spillemyndigheden said it was monitoring Polymarket and Kalshi but did not have sufficient grounds to restrict them because access from Denmark alone did not establish that they were targeting the country.
Spillemyndigheden Director Anders Dorph said the authority would block the platforms if evidence showed they were targeting Denmark. The latest case suggests the regulator was able to demonstrate to the court that the legal threshold had been met for Polymarket.
Denmark has increasingly used court-backed website blocking against unlicensed gambling operators. Spillemyndigheden secured orders against a record 334 illegal gambling websites in 2025.
The decision also follows enforcement against Polymarket elsewhere in Europe. France ordered internet providers to block the platform in July after determining that its restrictions on financial transactions from France could be bypassed. Polymarket has said it plans to challenge the decision.
In the Netherlands, the Dutch Gambling Authority has also issued an order requiring Polymarket to stop offering unlicensed gambling.