South Korea Pauses Polymarket Enforcement and Opens Formal Hearing
The communications review panel has asked Polymarket to explain its operations before deciding on corrective action, a step that could shape rules for offshore prediction markets.
Overview
- The Korea Communications Standards Commission's review subcommittee said on July 6 it will hear Polymarket’s formal response before deciding whether to request corrective measures against the platform.
- Regulators moved to examine the platform after Gangwon Provincial Police opened an investigation in early June into local users who traded election-related contracts, a probe reportedly requested by the National Police Agency.
- Polymarket lets users trade binary yes/no event contracts settled in stablecoins such as USDC and says it blocks access from about 33 countries to comply with local laws and sanctions.
- International pressure is growing as ESMA warned some event contracts may fall under EU financial rules, U.S. outlets reported a broad CFTC inquiry, and on-chain research found heavy trading by wallets linked to U.S. users.
- South Korean law treats online speculative gaming as potentially illegal and carries fines and prison terms for offenders, so regulators’ pending decision could affect users, platform compliance practices, and cross-border enforcement of crypto prediction markets.