Poly market is under increasing pressure from global regulators who are investigating its management of multimillion-dollar political speculations.
Singapore’s gambling authority has blocked access to Polymarket, a controversial crypto predictions platform that is currently under scrutiny for its handling of U.S. election-related wagering.
The initial reports of users being denied access were posted on Sunday evening, with Alex Zuo, the investments and custody vice president of Cobo, tweeting a screenshot of an official notice.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) issues a warning message to users from Singapore who attempt to access the platform, identifying Polymarket as an “illegal gambling site” that is operated by an unlicensed provider.
Decrypt has reviewed a screenshot and confirmed it with multiple sources in Singapore, which indicates that this remains the case at the time of writing.
The GRA or Polymarket have not yet issued official statements. Polymarket and the GRA did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
Polymarket’s front end can be accessed via a VPN that is routed to Singaporean servers, as indicated by internal testing. A source informed Decrypt that they could still access the site, but it was likely due to the fact that they were not with a prominent Singapore telco provider.
Singapore’s GRA issues a warning that references Section 20 of the Wagering Control Act 2022, which stipulates that engaging with unlicensed wagering services may result in penalties of up to $10,000 or six months of imprisonment.
It follows Polymarket’s recent decision to prohibit French users and effectively depart the French market in November of last year, following a trader’s placement of $45 million in wagers on Donald Trump’s presidential victory across multiple accounts.
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