South Korea Pauses Enforcement and Opens Hearing for Polymarket

Overview

• The Korea Communications Standards Commission’s review subcommittee, which met Monday, decided to delay immediate enforcement and formally hear Polymarket’s position before deciding on a corrective request.
• Gangwon Provincial Police began a probe of local users over trading in election-related contracts in early June and that investigation remains active under the National Police Agency’s direction.
• Polymarket lets users buy and sell yes‑or‑no contracts settled in stablecoins such as USDC and says it blocks access from dozens of jurisdictions, but on‑chain research found about $571 million of political-contract trading linked to U.S. wallets over the past year.
• South Korea’s gambling laws expose users to fines and possible prison terms and allow heavier penalties for operators, with fines of up to 10 million won for gambling offences and up to five years’ prison for running a gambling business.
• European guidance that some event contracts may fall under financial rules and media reports of a U.S. agency inquiry mean this case could shape how regulators worldwide treat offshore blockchain prediction markets and their promotional and access controls.