France Mulls Polymarket Ban After Local Banker Scores $50M Betting on US Election

Key Takeaways

• France’s gaming regulator is reportedly looking to ban access to Polymarket.
• Théo, a French banker, reportedly won a $50 million jackpot after placing several successful bets on Trump’s presidential win.
• The bold bets were made across four accounts and totaled over $30 million.

France’s gaming regulator is set to ban citizens from accessing crypto-based betting website Polymarket.

The move comes after a French banker reportedly hit a $50 million jackpot from a series of bets on Donald Trump’s presidential odds.

France To Ban Polymarket

France’s gaming regulator, known as ANJ, is expected to ban access to the crypto-based prediction market in the near future, French news outlet The Big Whale reported , citing sources familiar with the matter.

The source, which is closely tied with the ANJ, claimed that Polymarket is “not legal in France” and is “a betting activity.”

Although the regulator has not officially confirmed this, the ANJ said it was examining Polymarket’s “operation as well as its compliance with French gambling legislation.”

ANJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

$50M Winner

The news comes shortly after reports that an anonymous French Polymarket bettor, “Théo,” bagged $50 million from a series of daring bets on Trump’s U.S. presidential victory.

Théo, a French banker, placed bets across four accounts totaling over $30 million on a range of Trump outcomes.

In one of the bold bets, Théo wagered that Trump would win the popular vote, an outcome the majority of experts believed would not happen.

Other bets included Trump winning in key states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona.

Of course, all of these once unlikely bets came true—with Trump winning the popular vote, the swing states, and securing an Electoral College majority.

Théo achieved his rare runaway success by meticulously analyzing the 2024 U.S. election since the beginning of summer. Describing himself as a data enthusiast, the French better said he found biases in polling data that favored Trump’s opponents.