Ukraine Blocks Polymarket Over Unlicensed Gambling Concerns as Global Scrutiny Mounts

Ukrainian authorities have ordered internet providers to block access to Polymarket, a decentralised prediction market platform, after concluding that its services amount to unlicensed gambling under the country’s laws. The decision was issued in December 2025 by the National Commission for the Regulation of Electronic Communications, which instructed internet service providers to restrict access to online platforms that facilitate wagering without holding a Ukrainian licence.

The enforcement action was taken under Resolution No. 695 and applies to digital services deemed to enable gambling or gambling-like activity outside Ukraine’s regulated system. As a result of the ruling, polymarket.com has been added to Ukraine’s public registry of blocked internet resources, obliging domestic electronic communications providers to technically limit access for users within the country. Regulators said Polymarket’s outcome-based event contracts fall under the legal definition of gambling, even though the platform does not operate like a traditional sportsbook and relies on cryptocurrency rather than fiat money.

Local media reports have highlighted that trading volumes connected to events related to the war in Ukraine surpassed $100 million by the end of 2025, a development that has heightened ethical, legal and national security concerns among Ukrainian policymakers. Ukraine is not acting in isolation, as Polymarket has already encountered restrictions and regulatory warnings in several other jurisdictions, particularly in Europe, where authorities continue to wrestle with whether prediction markets should be treated as gambling operations or as financial market products.

Regulators in multiple countries have been especially uneasy about contracts linked to elections, armed conflict and geopolitical developments, arguing that such offerings may breach domestic laws when they are made available without local authorisation. These actions point to a wider uncertainty surrounding prediction markets that operate across borders without holding country-specific licences.

The platform has also been dealing with regulatory challenges in the United States. In 2022, Polymarket reached a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, agreeing to block access for US users and pay a civil penalty. It later began laying the groundwork for a return to the US through its acquisition of QCEX, with the aim of launching a regulated product, but as of early 2026 it has not yet opened that service to the wider public and is instead running a waiting list.

Even as enforcement actions intensify, Polymarket continues to draw commercial interest. Dow Jones recently confirmed an exclusive agreement to display Polymarket’s live prediction data across several of its media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch and Barron’s. The partnership was announced at a time when regulators in Tennessee have issued cease-and-desist letters to Polymarket, Kalshi and Crypto.com, saying their prediction market offerings may constitute unauthorised gambling.

Ukraine’s move adds to the growing pushback from national regulators against prediction market platforms that operate without local approval. As governments around the world try to draw clearer lines between financial trading and gambling, these platforms are facing an increasingly fragmented and uncertain regulatory environment, and until clearer rules are established, companies like Polymarket are likely to remain under close and continuing scrutiny.

By fLEXI tEAM