France treats these platforms as unauthorized gambling, and the national regulator has told operators to block French users or face referral to prosecutors.
Last reviewed 24 February 2026 · Status as of February 2026 · Information, not legal advice
As of February 2026, prediction markets are not legal to offer in France. The Autorité nationale des jeux, the national gambling regulator, classes them as unauthorized gambling, and only sports betting, horse race betting, and poker may be licensed for online play. Polymarket geoblocked French users in December 2024 after pressure from the ANJ, and the regulator has warned other operators to do the same.
French gambling law works from a short list of what may be licensed online. Sports betting, horse race betting, and poker can be authorized, and nothing else. Prediction markets, which let people stake money on political, economic, or other event outcomes, fall outside that list, so they cannot be offered legally. The Autorité nationale des jeux has stated plainly that prediction market platforms are illegal in France and that users face real risk if they use them.
The turning point came during the 2024 United States presidential election, when a French trader reportedly won a very large sum on Polymarket. The scale of that activity drew the regulator in, and by December 2024 Polymarket had introduced geoblocking for French users. Through early 2026 the ANJ extended its warnings to other operators, asking them to block French traffic or risk referral to prosecutors.
In a February 2026 statement, the regulator went further, arguing that markets which let people bet on events such as elections or violence can create a financial incentive to provoke or accelerate negative outcomes. France also joined a group of European regulators coordinating on tighter oversight of the sector. For a French resident, the practical takeaway is simple. There is no licensed prediction market, the leading venues geoblock French users, and reaching a blocked service carries both legal and financial risk.
No prediction market holds a French gambling licence. The platforms below are listed so you can see where each one stands, not as places a French resident can legally sign up.
Kalshi is a United States designated contract market overseen by the CFTC and is built around United States access. It is not licensed for gambling or financial services in France and offers no licensed route to residents there. See the Kalshi profile.
Polymarket is a crypto settled prediction market that operates without a gambling licence in France. Reachability through a browser or app is not the same as legal availability. See the Polymarket profile.
The Crypto.com event contract product is a United States CFTC listed offering and is not licensed for residents of France. Read the Crypto.com Sports and Events profile.
Platform positions are as of February 2026 and can change. We link to a platform only where it is genuinely available to a reader, and France is not such a place for these products. Reachability is not the same as legality.
Gambling in France is supervised by the Autorité nationale des jeux. Prediction markets are not among the products that can be licensed, and the regulator has described them as illegal. Confirm the current position with the ANJ directly before relying on anything here.
Status as of February 2026. We never invent a citation, and where a position is contested we mark it as contested.
Using a blocked or unlicensed service does not make it safe, and it can expose you to loss with little recourse. Prediction markets can lose you money. Stake only what you can afford to lose, never to chase a loss, and never on borrowed money. If gambling stops feeling like a free choice, step back and seek support from a problem gambling service in your country.
No. As of February 2026 the Autorité nationale des jeux classes prediction markets as unauthorized gambling, and only sports betting, horse race betting, and poker can be licensed online. This is general information, not legal advice.
Yes. Polymarket introduced geoblocking for French users in December 2024 after pressure from the ANJ, following an investigation tied to large trading on the 2024 United States election.
The Autorité nationale des jeux, known as the ANJ, supervises gambling in France. It has stated that prediction market platforms are illegal and potentially risky to users.
Some platforms may be reachable, but reachability is not legality. Reaching a blocked or unlicensed service carries legal and financial risk, and we do not point readers toward platforms they cannot legally use.
Because no prediction market is genuinely legal and available to a French resident. We only show an open account or compare path where a platform is licensed and available to you.