Overview
- Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has ordered internet providers to block Polymarket after concluding the site lets users place money on uncertain events and therefore operates as online gambling.
- Officials singled out a Polymarket contract on whether President Prabowo Subianto would leave office as a proximate trigger for the action and said the platform hosted roughly $46,000 of trading on that market.
- Komdigi said the block aims to protect the public and young users and that authorities are tracing the platform's social media accounts for possible further restrictions on promotion.
- The Indonesian ban follows recent ISP‑level blocks in India and a string of restrictions in countries including Argentina, Brazil and Romania as regulators focus on stablecoins, crypto settlement rails and weak identity and anti‑money‑laundering controls.
- U.S. regulators and lawmakers are separately debating whether real‑money event contracts belong under federal financial rules or state gambling laws, a legal split that will shape how platforms operate and how governments enforce cross‑border access.