Denmark has restricted the activities of Polymarket on grounds of the ongoing operation against gambling services which do not have the necessary licenses.
Following the decision of the Frederiksberg Court which determined that the site is providing gambling services to citizens of Denmark without the required permission, the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) has included Polymarket among 98 blocked gambling websites.
The ruling was issued on July 8, but Polymarket reportedly filed an appeal.
Tax and Growth Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt also criticised Polymarket’s offering of markets linked to wars and other serious events, saying:
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.
The restrictions are enforced through DNS blocking by Danish telecommunications companies, which redirect users of the affected websites to a message incoming from Danish authorities saying that the sites operate illegally in Denmark.
According to the Danish legislation, gambling companies must have a local license to operate in Denmark and provide services to local customers. Criteria showing that the site is targeting Danish clients involve providing information in the Danish language, accepting payments in Danish currency, using local payment methods, providing local customer support, and introducing betting solutions for local customers.
Though the court decision shows that the regulatory body has succeeded in proving that Polymarket matched the legal requirements for making the decision.