Polymarket asks European regulators to classify it as a financial firm

Polymarket has formally approached European regulators seeking classification as a financial services firm rather than a gambling operator, a move that would allow it to operate under financial regulation across the continent instead of navigating separate gambling licensing regimes in each jurisdiction.

The approach represents a direct challenge to how European authorities have so far treated prediction market contracts — as bets rather than as financial instruments. Polymarket's argument is that its contracts function as derivatives, pricing probabilistic outcomes the way options price uncertainty in underlying assets. If regulators accept that framing, the platform gains access to a unified European financial regulatory framework rather than the fragmented state-level enforcement it currently faces in the United States.

The timing follows a series of US state cease-and-desist orders against prediction market operators and a federal preemption dispute that remains unresolved. A successful European classification as a financial product would give Polymarket an operational base outside the US enforcement perimeter and a regulatory precedent it could use in domestic legal arguments.