Indonesia blocks Polymarket as South Korea reviews prediction markets under gambling rules

Regulatory pressure on prediction markets is spreading across Asia, with Indonesia blocking Polymarket as part of its online gambling crackdown and South Korea opening a review into whether the platform should be treated as illegal gambling.

Indonesia has blocked access to Polymarket as part of its wider campaign against online gambling. The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs said the platform had been restricted because prediction-market services are considered comparable to online gambling under Indonesian law. Gambling is illegal in Indonesia, and authorities have intensified blocking measures against digital betting platforms in recent months.

The Indonesian action followed attention around a Polymarket market that allowed users to wager on whether President Prabowo Subianto would leave office before the end of his term. Officials treated the case as part of a broader online gambling concern rather than as a political-speech issue, placing Polymarket inside the same enforcement category as other unauthorised betting services.

Indonesia’s authorities also linked the decision to international precedent. A ministry official said several jurisdictions have already restricted Polymarket or similar prediction-market platforms because they are viewed as gambling-like services. The official cited countries including Singapore, Brazil and India as having blocked Polymarket, while Taiwan, Thailand, China and Japan have imposed other restrictions under their national laws.

The move comes shortly after Indonesia arrested hundreds of foreign nationals in a major illegal online gambling case in Jakarta, reinforcing the government’s view that online betting is not only a consumer issue but also a cybercrime, immigration and financial-integrity risk. For Indonesian regulators, blocking Polymarket fits into a broader strategy of reducing access to digital platforms that allow real-money wagering on uncertain outcomes.

South Korea is now moving in the same direction, although it has not yet announced a full block. The Korea Communications Standards Commission has reportedly opened a review into Polymarket to determine whether the platform constitutes an illegal gambling site under domestic law. The review focuses on the platform’s real-money event trading model and its accessibility to Korean users.

A key issue for South Korean regulators is localisation. Industry reporting notes that Polymarket remains accessible in South Korea and offers Korean-language support, which can be interpreted by regulators as evidence that a platform is actively serving the local market rather than merely being available online. In strict gambling jurisdictions, localisation often increases regulatory exposure.

The cases in Indonesia and South Korea show the central legal problem facing prediction markets. Operators often present these platforms as information markets or event-contract exchanges, while gambling regulators focus on the fact that users stake money on uncertain outcomes and can receive payouts based on results. That real-money element is increasingly enough for authorities to treat prediction markets as betting products.

For global operators such as Polymarket, the regulatory environment is becoming more difficult. Even where a platform is structured around crypto, event contracts or market-based trading, local authorities may still apply gambling law if users can wager on politics, sport, economics or other real-world events. The next phase may bring more country-by-country enforcement, especially in markets where online gambling is banned or tightly restricted.