Polymarket Faces Romanian Regulatory Crackdown: Licensing Dispute Escalates
Romanian authorities drop the hammer on prediction market platform Polymarket
REGULATORY SHOWDOWN
The National Bank of Romania just blacklisted Polymarket—citing serious licensing violations that could reshape how decentralized platforms operate across European markets.COMPLIANCE CRACKDOWN
Romanian regulators aren't playing nice with unlicensed crypto operations. The move signals growing regulatory teeth in Eastern European markets—and traditional finance bureaucrats just love flexing their enforcement muscles. Platforms either adapt to regulatory frameworks or face the consequences. Another day, another regulator proving they'd rather strangle innovation than understand it. Prediction markets continue disrupting traditional finance—while regulators continue pretending they can stop the inevitable.Romanian regulator blacklists Polymarket
According to the Romanian regulator, while it understands that Polymarket is often regarded as an “event trading platform” and meets the definition of what it considers a “counterparty betting,” users still put up stakes against other users, and a future event determines the outcome.
“Accepting the idea that a ‘counterparty betting’ system can be called ‘trading’ WOULD create a dangerous precedent, whereby any operator could ‘reinterpret’ the counterparty betting activity as a stock exchange activity – circumventing strict gambling or capital markets regulations,” the regulator wrote.
The Romanian regulator was particularly concerned about the increased prediction market activity during the Romanian local elections. For example, the regulator claimed that the market on Polymarket, where it asked users to predict the mayor of the capital city of Bucharest, has seen more than $16 million in volume. Earlier this year, an electoral market on the platform also generated more than $370 million in total volume.
International scrutiny and POLY token launch
Polymarket has garnered scrutiny across the world for similar reasons. Last year, France’s National Gaming Authority announced plans to ban the platform after an investigation into its compliance with French gambling legislation. “The regulator is currently examining [Polymarket’s] operation as well as its compliance with French gambling legislation,” a report from French news outlet The Big Whale said at the time.
The platform had also been effectively banned in the United States following a fine from the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) back in 2022. However, in July, it acquired derivatives exchange QCX, which has received a no-action letter from the regulator, essentially allowing the prediction platform to resume its activities in the United States. Polymarket recently received a $2 billion investment from the New York Stock Exchange owner, Intercontinental Exchange.
Meanwhile, Polymarket is planning to launch its POLY token and an airdrop. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, Polymarket CMO Matthew Modabber confirmed plans in an interview. “There will be a token, there will be an airdrop […] We could have launched a token whenever we wanted, and it’s just how thorough we want to be about it. We want it to be a token with true utility, longevity, and to be around forever, right? That’s what we expect from ourselves, and that’s what I think everyone in the space expects from us,” he said.
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