Romanian Regulator Blacklists Polymarket Over Licensing Violations
Romania's National Gambling Office (ONJN) has added prediction market platform Polymarket to its blacklist, citing unlicensed gambling activities. The regulator clarified that the decision stems from legal non-compliance, not technological concerns. "Regardless of whether you bet in lei or crypto, wagering money on future outcomes constitutes gambling requiring authorization," stated ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare.
The Polygon-based platform, which processes bets in USDC, gained notoriety for accurately predicting the 2020 U.S. presidential election outcome. Polymarket has facilitated over $3.3 billion in wagers on political, economic, and cultural events since its 2020 launch. The regulator dismissed arguments about the platform's classification as an "event trading" service, maintaining that user-vs-user betting on future events falls under gambling regulations.
