Polymarket fights €420,000 Dutch gambling fine
Polymarket is taking the Dutch gambling regulator to court as it attempts to overturn a €420,000 penalty imposed for continuing to serve players after it was ordered out of the Netherlands.
The prediction market operator’s parent company Adventure One is appealing the penalty from the Kansspelautoriteit, or KSA, in The Hague.
The dispute dates back to the beginning of 2026, when the KSA determined that Polymarket was offering gambling to Dutch consumers without a local licence.
MORE: Gambling in the Netherlands
The KSA ordered Adventure One to block Dutch users by February 17 or face financial penalties, which Polymarket complied with, but did not have the full block in place until the following day.
Adventure One argued that it had started implementing the restriction by the deadline but a technical issues meant users could still access the platform while the block was being rolled out.
The company said the delay was not the result of negligence and that it had acted as quickly as possible.
The KSA rejected that explanation and moved ahead with the €420,000 penalty, eventually beginning recovery action when it remained unpaid.
Polymarket is now challenging that decision in court.
The case also feeds into a much larger argument about how prediction markets should be regulated.
Dutch authorities regard Polymarket’s products as gambling, meaning a prediction market requires approval from the KSA before offering them to consumers in the Netherlands.
However, a proposal has already reached the Dutch parliament calling for a separate regulatory framework for prediction markets.
That proposal was rejected by State Secretary Claudia Van Bruggen, with the government maintaining the KSA’s position that the products constitute gambling.
Other jurisdictions are taking different approaches. Gibraltar has introduced a dedicated framework for prediction markets, while companies including Polymarket and Kalshi continue to argue that event contracts can fall within financial rather than conventional gambling regulation.
The Dutch court challenge will now test whether Polymarket can overturn the financial consequences of its delayed withdrawal from the market.
