Indonesia Blocks Polymarket, Labels Prediction Markets ‘Online Gambling in Disguise’
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has blocked access to Polymarket, saying the crypto-based prediction market amounts to online gambling under local law. The ministry said it had cut off access to the platform and was tracing affiliated social media accounts for possible restrictions across other digital channels.
Indonesia blocks Polymarket at a moment when the platform has been under growing international scrutiny. Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s director general of digital space supervision, made the government’s position unambiguous: platforms that allow users to wager money on uncertain outcomes remain gambling products, even when they use blockchain technology or crypto assets. In other words, putting crypto rails beneath a betting product does not transform it into something legally distinct.
Polymarket lets users trade contracts tied to real-world events, including elections, sports, crypto prices and political outcomes, and has grown into one of the largest crypto prediction markets. That scale, however, has attracted regulators who see the platform’s mechanics as indistinguishable from gambling, regardless of the technology underlying it.
The Indonesian order did not single out Kalshi, the U.S.-regulated prediction market operator, by name, but authorities made clear that similar services that facilitate online gambling could face the same treatment. The ban could therefore extend to other prediction-market platforms if regulators determine they allow wagers on uncertain real-world events.
The move places Indonesia firmly within a widening regional crackdown. India recently blocked Polymarket after authorities classified such platforms as prohibited online money gaming, with Kalshi also facing potential scrutiny. Meanwhile, Polymarket is separately seeking regulatory approval in Japan by 2030, where strict gambling laws limit most forms of betting to state-sanctioned activities.
The Indonesian ministry said Singapore, Brazil and India have blocked Polymarket, while Taiwan, Thailand, China and Japan have imposed restrictions under local law. The platform is also blocked in Ukraine, where, according to earlier reporting, there is no legal pathway for it to return.
The regulator urged Indonesians not to access or participate in digital betting activity, including markets that use crypto assets, citing potential financial losses and violations of Indonesian law, and said it would keep coordinating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to monitor similar platforms.
The Indonesian government’s official notice on the block can be found on the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs portal. As Indonesia blocks Polymarket and pressure mounts across the continent, the platform’s global regulatory battle is far from over.
