Spain joins list of more than 30 countries that have banned Polymarket

Polymarket has been blocked or suspended in multiple countries and regions, with Spain now added to a published list of places where it cannot legally operate. Restrictions have been imposed across countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, and Indonesia, while France and Switzerland have had longer-standing prohibitions. The company states that availability is limited due to regulatory requirements and compliance with international sanctions. The list also includes the United States, where the platform receives the highest traffic share. After U.S. regulatory enforcement in 2022, access for U.S. users was halted, but online communities shared methods to bypass the ban using VPNs that change apparent device location. This may reduce the likelihood of a complete shutdown in banned regions.

"Polymarket doesn't hide this reality. On its website, it has published a list of 33 countries and four regions in which it cannot legally operate, and to which Spain will now be added. Polymarket is not available in certain countries and regions due to regulatory requirements and compliance with international sanctions, states the company. Surprisingly, this list includes the United States, which is currently the country that produces the highest number of visits to the platform; 17.4%, according to numbers from Semrush."

"In 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Polymarket $1.4 million, and ordered it to halt its activity over regulatory infractions. That turnaround forced the site to ban access of U.S. users, but in online forums like Reddit and social media platforms like X, instructions began to be shared on how to evade the ban with the help of virtual private networks, or VPNs, a tool that allows location data on devices to be changed. That is to say, to make it look as though you are connecting from another country entirely."

"If you are a user now, and you already have an account from Spain, you will probably be able to continu"

Read at english.elpais.com