Singaporean regulatory authorities have declared a US-based cryptocurrency prediction market as an illegal gambling site, leading to the imposition of a ban on the website.
Users of crypto betting platform Polymarket can no longer access the website after Singapore listed it as an “unlicensed online gaming operator”, violating the country’s strict gambling law.
Singapore bans polymarkets
The Singapore Gambling Regulatory Authority implemented the ban on January 12, halting access to the crypto-based prediction market site.
“Polymarket is officially defined as a Singapore gaming website,” announced Alex Zuo, cryptocurrency custody solution provider, Cobo Global, VP of Investment and Custody.
Analysts have described Polymarket as an online platform allowing its users to bet on everything from elections to sports. However, the Gambling Regulatory Authority considers the crypto-based betting platform to be a gaming platform operating without a license in the said Asian country.
Regulator warns users
Singaporeans who tried to access the betting platform received a warning from the state-run GRA, claiming that Polymarket is an unlicensed gambling operator in the country.
“You attempted to access an illegal gaming site hosted by an unlicensed gaming service provider,” the regulator said in a notice posted on the website.
Polymarket banned in Singapore, classified as gambling site
Decentralized prediction platform Polymarket has reportedly been blocked by Singapore, which classified it as a gaming site, according to BeInCrypto. This was shared in a recent X post by Alex Zuo, vice president of…
– CoinNess Global (@CoinnessGL) January 12, 2025
A violation of the country’s gambling law
The GRA said Polymarket violates the country’s Gambling Control Act 2022, which is the state law that governs “unlawful gaming and the regulation of licensed gaming services outside casinos.”
Under the law, all gambling operators who wish to provide services to Singapore residents must obtain an appropriate license from the country’s regulatory body.
According to the country’s regulator, there is only one licensed online gaming operator in the country, which is a state lottery subsidiary, Singapore Pools.
“If you want to place a bet, you can only go to a state gaming company, otherwise you will be subject to fines and imprisonment,” Zuo said in his X post.
Fines and prison sentences
State authorities have warned that anyone accessing unlicensed gaming platforms faces fines and imprisonment.
“Under section 20 of the Gambling Control Act 2022, a person found guilty of gambling with unlicensed gambling service providers is liable to a fine of up to to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both,” the GRA said.
Resistance to the polymarket
Singapore’s restriction on Polymarket is not an isolated case as the online betting platform is also facing problems in other countries.
The National Gaming Authority in France reported access to Polymarket in November last year. Reports indicate that the online betting platform does not comply with any provisions permitted by France’s strict gambling laws.
In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also blocked the crypto betting platform on the grounds that it was operating as an “unregistered derivatives trading platform.”
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
