Dutch regulator seeks €420,000 from Polymarket

• Dutch gambling regulator KSA is seeking €420,000 from Polymarket's operator after the platform halted Dutch services one day after a regulatory deadline.
• The penalty represents one week of fines under an earlier enforcement order and is below the maximum potential €840,000 penalty.
• The case highlights ongoing differences between European and US approaches to regulating prediction markets.

The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) is seeking to collect €420,000 from Adventure One QSS Inc., the operator of Polymarket, after the platform reportedly stopped serving Dutch users one day after a regulatory deadline.

The enforcement action stems from a January order requiring Polymarket to cease offering services in the Netherlands within four weeks after authorities determined the platform was operating without a gambling licence.

“Such bets are not allowed on the Dutch market under any circumstances,” said KSA director of licensing and supervision Ella Seijsener when the original order was announced.

Dutch regulators found that local users could access markets, deposit funds and place wagers on events including the October 2025 Dutch parliamentary elections, prompting the KSA to classify the activity as unlicensed gambling under national law.

The regulator imposed a penalty of €420,000 per week for non-compliance, capped at €840,000, and because Polymarket remained accessible when officials conducted a compliance check on the February 17 deadline, one weekly penalty became payable.

Polymarket has objected to the collection action, arguing that technical measures to block Dutch users were still being implemented when the regulator conducted its review and that the complexity of geofencing was not sufficiently considered.

The dispute underscores the regulatory divide between Europe and the United States, where prediction markets are increasingly treated as financial products, while several European jurisdictions continue to regulate them under gambling laws.