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- Polymarket is challenging a Dutch regulatory order in court after the Netherlands Gambling Authority classified its prediction markets as unlicensed gambling.
- The Ksa imposed a €420,000 penalty payment on Polymarket’s operator after finding the platform failed to stop offering services in the Netherlands.
- No decision date has been reported regarding whether the platform's event contracts fall under financial regulation or Dutch gambling law.
Polymarket is challenging a Dutch regulatory order in court after the Netherlands Gambling Authority classified its prediction markets as unlicensed gambling and imposed a €420,000 penalty payment on the platform’s operator.
Adventure One QSS, the company behind Polymarket’s international platform, argues that its event contracts are financial products rather than wagers. The case follows the regulator’s rejection of the company’s earlier objection.
Polymarket Says Event Contracts Belong Under Financial Regulation
Polymarket lets users trade contracts tied to whether real-world events will occur, with winning positions settling in USDC. Adventure One argues that those contracts resemble derivatives and should fall under financial market supervision rather than Dutch gambling law.
That position would place oversight closer to the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets instead of the Kansspelautoriteit, or Ksa. The Ksa disagrees and considers Polymarket’s event markets games of chance offered to Dutch consumers without the required gambling license.
Ksa Imposed €420,000 Weekly Penalty After January Order
The Ksa ordered Adventure One on Jan. 20 to stop offering Polymarket in the Netherlands. The regulator made the action public on Feb. 17 and said continued access could trigger penalty payments of €420,000 per week, capped at €840,000.
The authority later found that Polymarket had not complied within the required period and determined that one €420,000 payment had become payable. It moved to collect the amount after rejecting Adventure One’s objection in June.
Court Will Decide Whether Polymarket Falls Under Dutch Gambling Law
Polymarket is now asking a court in The Hague to overturn the regulator’s decision and its classification of the platform as gambling.
The case will test whether Polymarket’s event contracts should remain under Dutch gambling supervision or be treated as financial products subject to a different regulatory framework.
No decision date has been reported. Until the court rules, the Ksa’s finding that Polymarket offered unlicensed gambling remains in place, along with its effort to collect the €420,000 penalty payment.
