The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling oversight body, has issued a severe penalty order against Adventure One QSS, the company behind Polymarket, a prominent cryptocurrency-based prediction platform.
More specifically, the regulator has commanded Adventure One QSS to cease its illegal operations in the Netherlands or face accumulating fines reaching a maximum of €840,000.
Regulatory Findings on Dutch Targeting
Following a comprehensive assessment, the KSA determined that Polymarket was offering games of chance without the requisite national gambling license. Investigators found that Dutch players could easily bypass restrictions using local IP addresses to create accounts, deposit funds via Mastercard, and participate in markets.
The KSA provided evidence of active targeting, noting that the platform featured AI customer support in the Dutch language, accepted payments in Euros, and even hosted betting markets specifically on Dutch politics.
The “Prediction Market” Defense Rejected
Polymarket attempted to defend its position by arguing that it does not operate a traditional gambling site, but rather a legitimate prediction exchange driven by contract logic and market dynamics.
The operator maintained that:
“The result is not purely chance, but (also) the product of informed decision-making and active trading choices.”
However, the KSA upheld its assessment that these markets constitute unlicensed gambling. Ella Seijsener, Director of Licensing and Supervision at the KSA, stated:
“These types of companies offer bets that are not permitted in our market under any circumstances… Anyone without a licence has no business in our market. This also applies to these new gambling platforms.”
A Growing Global Regulatory Shadow
This enforcement action adds to a series of legal hurdles for the platform, which previously paid a $1.4 million civil penalty to the US CFTC in 2022. More recently, the site has faced geo-blocking orders in France and scrutiny from various US state authorities regarding the legality of event-based binary options.
