Polymarket's Dutch Geoblock Came One Day Late. The Penalty Was 420,000 Euros

On 20 January 2026 the Netherlands Gambling Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit, ordered Adventure One QSS Inc., the company behind Polymarket, to stop offering games of chance to players in the Netherlands within four weeks. Each further week of breach would cost 420,000 euros, up to 840,000 euros.

The four weeks ran out on 17 February. The authority rechecked on 18 February, found that the breach had not ended, and on 19 February notified the company that a penalty had been forfeited.

In its objection, Polymarket's operator argued that it had put in place far-reaching blocking measures aimed at Dutch IP addresses on that same 18 February, so that users in the Netherlands could no longer place bets through the website. The authority answered in its decision of 23 June that the measures had to be fully in place before 18 February, and that waiting until that day was at the company's own risk. The 420,000 euros had been forfeited by law.

The authority's case page, published on 8 July 2026, states the finding plainly: "Under the brand name Polymarket, Adventure One offers games of chance on the Dutch market without holding the required licence." It adds that a penalty of 420,000 euros has been forfeited and that the authority is collecting it.

The decisions on the record are the order under penalty of 20 January, the collection decision of 19 May and the decision on objection of 23 June, which declared the objection unfounded and upheld the earlier decisions.

The decision on objection can be appealed to the administrative law section of the district court within six weeks of its publication. An appeal does not suspend the decision. The authority's case page, read on 21 October 2026, says an appeal can be lodged; it does not say whether one has been.

Polymarket's restrictions page, read on 21 October 2026, lists the Netherlands as close-only on its website: users can close positions but cannot open new ones. The restriction does not apply to its API.

The Netherlands has used an order under penalty, not a court-ordered internet block. Every national measure is in the Europe tracker.

Based on the Kansspelautoriteit's published decisions and case page, read on 21 October 2026; quotations are translated from Dutch. Vultax did not test access from Dutch networks.