Singaporean regulatory authorities declared a US-based cryptocurrency-based prediction market as an illegal gambling site, leading to the imposition of a ban on the website.
Users of the crypto-based betting platform Polymarket can no longer access the website since Singapore classified it as an “unlicensed online gambling operator,” violating the country’s stringent gambling law.
Singapore Bans Polymarket
Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority implemented the ban on January 12, stopping access to the crypto-based prediction market site.
“Polymarket is officially defined as a gambling website in Singapore,” crypto custody solutions provider Cobo Global Vice President of Investment and Custody Alex Zuo announced in a post.
Analysts described Polymarket as an online platform allowing its users to bet on anything from elections to sports. However, the Gambling Regulatory Authority viewed the crypto-based betting platform as a gambling platform operating without a license in the said Asian country.
Regulatory Body Warned Users
Singaporeans who tried to access the betting platform received a warning from the state-run GRA, saying that Polymarket is an unlicensed gambling operator in the country.
“You attempted to access an illegal gambling site hosted by an unlicensed gambling 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 been reportedly blocked by Singapore, which classified it as a gambling site, according to BeInCrypto. The 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 that Polymarket violates the country’s Gambling Control Act 2022, which is the state law that governs “unlawful gambling and the regulation of authorized gambling services outside of casinos.”
Under the law, all gambling operators who want to provide services to Singaporean residents are required to obtain proper licensing from the country’s regulatory body.
According to the country’s regulator, there is only one licensed online gambling operator in the country, which is state-owned lottery subsidiary, Singapore Pools.
“If you want to place a bet, you can only go to a state-owned gambling company, otherwise you will face fines and imprisonment,” Zuo said in his X post.
Fines And Jail Time
State authorities warned that any person accessing unlicensed gambling platforms can face fines and imprisonment.
“Under Section 20 of the Gambling Control Act 2022, a person convicted of gambling with unlicensed gambling service providers is liable for a fine of up to $10,000, or a jail term of up to 6 months, or both,” the GRA stated.
Resistance To Polymarket
Singapore’s restriction to Polymarket is not an isolated case since the online betting platform is also encountering issues in other countries.
France’s National Gaming Authority flagged down the access to Polymarket in November last year. Reports said that the online betting platform did not fit in any of the allowed provisions under the strict French gambling laws.
In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also blocked the crypto-based betting platform for operating as an “unregistered derivatives trading platform.”
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
