An Argentine court has ordered a nationwide block of Polymarket over alleged unlicensed gambling services.

BlockBeats News, March 17th, an Argentine court has ordered the nationwide blocking of the cryptocurrency prediction market platform Polymarket. According to the ruling on March 11th, the 31st Criminal, Misdemeanor, and Petty Offenses Court of Buenos Aires requested the Argentine National Communications Regulatory Agency ENACOM to take action to prevent users from accessing the Polymarket website and its related domains.

The case was brought by the Buenos Aires City Gambling Regulatory Agency LOTBA. Local prosecutor Juan Rozas, in charge of gambling affairs, then launched an investigation, accusing Polymarket of providing gambling services to Argentine users without authorization, allegedly violating the country's criminal law.

The court ordered ENACOM to enforce the block through Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and to promptly report any technical obstacles to the court or the gambling prosecutor's office. In addition, the court also requested Google and Apple to remove and restrict Polymarket's Android and iOS apps in the Argentine region, including restricting access for existing users.

The regulatory agency pointed out that the Polymarket platform lacks sufficient identity and age verification mechanisms, theoretically allowing "anyone, including minors, to place bets without supervision."

According to local media reports, a prediction market on Polymarket regarding Argentine inflation data had previously been highly consistent with data released by the official statistical agency, sparking external doubts about potential insider trading.