Indonesia blocked Polymarket after officials linked the platform to online gambling and political betting activities nationwide.
Indonesia has blocked Polymarket as part of a larger crackdown on online gambling platforms. According to Reuters, the platform was found to violate local gambling laws, authorities said. The move was attributed to betting markets associated with political events.
Indonesia Tightens Rules After Viral Political Market
The new enforcement came after a prominent prediction market was launched on 21 May 2026. The market invited users to guess the time of the departure of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto. The contract quickly went viral on social media platforms in Indonesia.
Reports showed the market generated more than $46,000 in trading volume within only a few days. The rise of political interest within the country led to a discussion of the market online by many users. This led to a greater scrutiny of the platform’s operations by authorities.
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The political betting market came into existence just after President Prabowo revealed new economic plans. These plans were aimed at expanding government regulation of large-scale commodity exports. During these discussions, the palm oil and coal industries in Indonesia emerged as central issues.
Indonesia Strengthens Action Against Online Betting
Alexander Sabar, the Director General of Digital Space Supervision of the Indonesian government, responded to the government’s stance on Polymarket. He said that despite the use of blockchain technology and crypto assets, the platform functions like an online casino. Thus, the activity was deemed illegal by the regulators in light of the gambling laws.
Authorities also explained that blockchain technology does not protect betting services from regulation. Regulators might still consider the activity to be gambling if users bet on events they don’t know about. As a result of this policy, the platform was blocked within Indonesia.
The gambling industry is not legal in Indonesia. As a result, the authorities persist in their efforts to crack down on online betting. In addition, during the crackdown, officials also deleted social media accounts linked to Polymarket.
The government said it had frozen over 33,000 bank accounts linked to online betting activity in 2026. These are part of a wider campaign to combat illegal gambling networks. Regulators are now continuing to monitor digital platforms that are connected with betting services.
More Countries Increase Pressure on Prediction Markets
Indonesia is now following the footsteps of several countries that took action against Polymarket in the past few years. These countries are Singapore, France, Belgium, Poland, Netherlands, and certain regions of Ukraine. The majority of the regulators expressed concern over political betting and gambling-related activities.
The new ruling also comes from a broader international effort to crack down on prediction market sites. In recent times, India has enacted more stringent proposals on prediction markets in online gaming legislation. Brazil also banned Polymarket and Kalshi in April 2026 to prevent political betting markets.
In recent years, the crypto industry has seen a surge in the popularity of prediction markets. These platforms enable users to wager on elections, sports, economic information, and public events. But regulators are increasingly seeing these services as online gambling.
The latest action by Indonesia underscores the pressure on crypto-based prediction platforms globally. Governments are still tightening up the regulations on political betting and online betting systems. In the future, prediction market companies may be subject to more restrictions if other countries follow Indonesia’s example.