Argentina Bans Polymarket, Citing Unlicensed Gambling and a Suspicious Call on Inflation Data
Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market platform, where users stake real money on the outcomes of political, economic, and geopolitical events has been blocked in Argentina following a ruling by Buenos Aires Judge Susana Parada on March 16.
The order instructs ENACOM, Argentina’s national communications regulator, to work with internet providers to restrict access to Polymarket and its mirror domains across the country, according to Infobae. Existing Argentine users are also covered.
Argentina becomes the second country in Latin America to impose a full national block on the platform, after Colombia acted in October 2025.
The case was initiated by LOTBA, the Buenos Aires City Lottery, supported by the National Association of State Lotteries and the Chamber of Casinos. Their complaint argued that Polymarket operated as an unlicensed online betting house.
Prosecutors from the Specialised Gambling Prosecutorial Unit, with technical assistance from the city’s Judicial Investigations Unit, found that the platform accepted cryptocurrency and credit card transactions with no identity or age verification, meaning anyone, including minors, could open an account and wager within minutes.
The court classified Polymarket as a “concealed betting system” rather than a neutral forecasting tool and issued the block.
The Inflation Data Incident
One event appears to have added urgency. According to court filings, approximately 15 minutes before INDEC published Argentina’s February inflation figure of 2.9%, odds on Polymarket’s market for that outcome shifted sharply, with close to $91,000 placed on the correct result in that window.
Authorities flagged the move as potential insider trading, someone with advance access to non-public government data profiting before official release.
Argentina’s inflation figures carry significant economic weight in a country that spent much of 2024 with annual inflation above 200%, and the suggestion that a crypto prediction platform could be used to front-run official statistics was enough for prosecutors to press for immediate action.
A Platform Under Pressure Globally
Polymarket has faced mounting regulatory action across multiple jurisdictions. The platform is blocked in more than 30 countries and in 2023 settled with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for $1.4 million over charges it offered unregulated binary options contracts to US citizens. The Netherlands ordered it to cease operations last month. Colombia’s regulator Coljuegos blocked it in October 2025.
In the United States, pressure is arriving from a different direction. Senators introduced the No Gambling on Death Act in February 2026, targeting event contracts linked to deaths, assassinations, and acts of terrorism, a direct response to markets that emerged during the Iran war, including a $54 million Kalshi market on Iran’s political leadership that was paused during active hostilities, leaving payouts unresolved.
Kalshi also faces a lawsuit in Oregon for allegedly running an illegal gambling operation. For Polymarket, Argentina’s ban adds to a growing list of jurisdictions reaching the same conclusion: that a platform where real money changes hands on uncertain outcomes is a betting house, whatever it calls itself.
