Stop, or else
The Netherlands’ Gambling Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has ordered Polymarket to put an immediate halt to all its operations in the country or face weekly fines of €420,000 ($496,900), which can rise up to €840,000 ($993,800).
faces even bigger revenue-based penalties
The Dutch gambling regulator said on Tuesday that Polymarket was running gambling operations without a license, and that it faces even bigger revenue-based penalties should it fail to comply with its order.
In a news release, the KSA stated the stoppage order comes after the regulator spent months scrutinizing the prediction markets (PMs) Polymarket offered for the October 2025 Dutch general elections.
Polymarket allowed Dutch residents to bet on the next Prime Minister, or which party would win the most seats.
Election attention
Dutch bettors reportedly placed more than $32m on the October parliamentary elections, with $10m+ staked on Geert Wilders’ far-right political party PVV, and almost $6m on Democrats 66 (D66). The market for predicting the most seats won attracted over $27m in wagers.
According to Amsterdam-based NL Times, a KSA supervisor bet on the leader of the centre-left liberal party D66, Rob Jetten, to win the most seats via Polymarket “to test how easily Dutch residents could access the platform.”
In Tuesday’s statement, KSA’s Director of Licensing and Supervision Ella Seijsener warned of the potential social risks of PM’s, including their influence on elections.
“These types of companies offer bets that are not permitted in our market under any circumstances, not even by license holders,” said Seijsener. The director added that the KSA considers the markets offered by Polymarket “illegal gambling.”
Rising popularity
While Seijsener acknowledged the rise of PM popularity in the Netherlands, the Times cited a KSA spokesperson noting that, while figures were imprecise, “around 50,000 people searched for Polymarket last December.”
Polymarket “appears to be growing among Dutch users.”
“That seems like an underestimation,” said the spokesperson, adding that Polymarket “appears to be growing among Dutch users.”
Seijsener, however, warned: “Anyone without a Ksa license has no business in our market. This also applies to these new gambling platforms.”
