Polymarket Appeals Dutch €420,000 Penalty.
Adventure One QSS Inc., the company behind Polymarket, is challenging a €420,000 penalty imposed by the Dutch gambling regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). The case centers on whether the prediction market remained available to Dutch users one day beyond a deadline to withdraw from the country.
Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad (FD) first reported the appeal. It comes after the KSA rejected Adventure One’s objection to the penalty.
A missed deadline or a technical delay?
Earlier this year, the KSA ordered Adventure One to stop offering gambling services in the Netherlands by 17 February 2026. The order imposed a penalty of €420,000 for each week of non-compliance, up to a maximum of €840,000.
The following day, the regulator checked the platform and found that users could still log in and place bets. The KSA imposed the first €420,000 penalty and issued a collection decree on 19 May 2026.
Polymarket says it withdrew from the Dutch market on 18 February the same day as the regulator’s test. Adventure One maintains that its access restrictions went live that day but may not have been fully implemented when the KSA checked. The company attributed the delay to technical factors.
It told the regulator that the measures were implemented “as quickly and carefully as possible within the short grace period.” It described the delay as “not negligence, but a known feature of the technology.” The KSA rejected that argument, leaving the dispute to be decided by the court.
The bigger question: gambling or finance?
The case also reflects a broader disagreement over how prediction markets should be regulated. Adventure One argues that Polymarket’s event contracts are financial derivatives and should fall under financial-market rules, rather than Dutch gambling law. The KSA considers them bets. When the regulator announced its order in February, KSA director Ella Seijsener said:
“Prediction markets are on the rise, including in the Netherlands. These kinds of companies offer wagers that are simply not permitted on our market.”
Seijsener also raised concerns that prediction markets could influence elections. Before the order, Polymarket had attracted Dutch media attention for markets tied to election outcomes. The company has made a similar case in Brussels, lobbying for its products to be treated as financial services. Meanwhile, US-based rival Kalshi is in discussions with EU regulators, including the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), according to SBC News.
Parliament leaves the KSA’s position intact
A proposal to establish a separate regulatory framework for prediction markets has not advanced. Dutch MP Iem Al Biyati put forward a motion in the House of Representatives calling for dedicated rules. State Secretary Claudia van Bruggen rejected the motion, pointing to the KSA’s position that prediction markets constitute gambling. For now, that classification remains the government’s stance, making the court challenge Polymarket’s main avenue for contesting the Dutch decision.
Restrictions spread across Europe
The Netherlands is among several European countries that have taken action against Polymarket in 2026. Italy has returned the platform to its blocked list. Denmark included it among 98 gambling websites blocked in August, while Lithuania blocked it as unlicensed gambling in September, the first prediction market barred by the country’s regulator. In France, Polymarket is separately challenging a block on its website. That case concerns a different restriction imposed by a different regulator.
Read Also: Dutch Gambling Regulator Revokes Lottery Licence Over Fraud Allegations.
Other jurisdictions are taking a different approach. Gibraltar has introduced what it calls the world’s first dedicated regulatory framework for prediction markets, while Malta has indicated it may follow suit.
In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates prediction markets as financial instruments at the federal level. Several state regulators, however, reject that classification and treat them as gambling.
What comes next
A court hearing date has not been announced. If the KSA’s decision is upheld, Adventure One will have to pay €420,000. The remaining €420,000 under the penalty cap would still apply if Dutch users were able to access the platform again.
The ruling could clarify how Dutch courts interpret a blocking deadline when a company says it acted on time but technical systems took longer to take effect. For Polymarket, an unfavorable outcome would come as it continues to press EU institutions to classify its products as financial services.
