Singapore Blocks Polymarket: Calls It an “Illegal Gambling Site”

The authorities in Singapore have labelled Polymarket as an “illegal gambling site” and blocked it within the city-state. Now, Singaporeans attempting to visit the crypto-betting platform are shown a notice from the country’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA).

“Polymarket is officially defined as a gambling website in Singapore,” Alex Zuo, Investment and Custody Vice President at Cobo Global, wrote on X (translated from Mandarin Chinese), pointing to the newly displayed notice on the Polymarket.com domain. “If you want to place a bet, you can only go to a state-owned gambling company; otherwise, you will face fines and imprisonment.”

polymarket在坡正式定义为博彩网站，想下注只能去国营博彩公司哦，否则面临罚款和坐牢哦 pic.twitter.com/VdoozWAVgE

— alexzuo🫡 (@alexzuo4) January 12, 2025

Strict Punishment for Polymarket Bettors

Indeed, Singapore imposes a penalty of SGD 10,000 or prison time of up to six months, or both, on anyone convicted of gambling on any unlicensed platform. For unlicensed gambling operators, the penalty is SGD 500,000, along with imprisonment of up to seven years, while repeat offenders face a steeper penalty of SGD 700,000 with prison time of up to 10 years, according to the GRA.

“It is unlawful for any person to provide unlicensed remote gambling services in or from Singapore, or from outside Singapore to persons situated in Singapore,” the GRA clarified on its website.

Furthermore, Singapore has authorised its police force to block access to “unlawful remote gambling services, the advertising of such services, and payment transactions” since 1 January 2025.

According to the GRA, Singaporean authorities have blocked more than 3,800 gambling websites and 145,000 transactions amounting to SGD 37 million since 2015.

The only legal gambling platform in the South Asian country is Singapore Pools, which offers a range of gambling services, including lottery, sports betting, and horse racing betting. However, it lacks political event contracts that contributed to the popularity of Polymarket.

Polymarket Faces Regulatory Heat

Polymarket facilitates betting on event contracts with cryptocurrencies. The platform runs on the Polygon blockchain. It cannot legally offer services to United States citizens and residents. However, according to Similarweb, over 29 per cent of Polymarket’s traffic comes from the US.

Last November, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation also raided the home of Polymarket’s CEO, Shayne Coplan, and seized his phone. The Department of Justice is investigating Polymarket, as the platform allegedly allowed US users to bet on events.

The crypto platform also blocked French users from accessing it following reports of an investigation against it for flouting local gambling laws.

This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.
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