Polymarket is no longer accessible in Denmark after a court in Frederiksberg ordered telecom providers to block the American prediction market. Danish operators have now put the block into effect.
DR reports that the Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, brought a case against the telecom company Telenor at the court in Frederiksberg. Telenor was barred from providing access to Polymarket and a number of other sites offering gambling in Denmark. The court and the authority found that Polymarket breaches the Danish gambling act.
According to Teleindustrien, the trade body for Danish telecom companies, member operators follow an industry code of conduct. That means all participating providers block the sites once a court has ruled. Teleindustrien also states that it was incidental that Telenor was the company sued in this instance.
Ekstra Bladet reports that the Frederiksberg decision is dated 8 July 2026 and covers Polymarket along with 97 other illegal gambling providers. Teleindustrien confirmed the block to TV 2, per the same outlet. BT adds that the measure is a DNS block, which can still be bypassed using a VPN.
Polymarket says it is disappointed by the Danish decision and describes platforms like its own as an important innovation in the digital financial market. The company told DR it intends to have the decision tested through a legal process in Denmark. It also states that it holds no position in any market and does not earn money on any outcome.
Jakob Engel-Schmidt of the Moderates, who serves as minister for taxation and growth, welcomed the block in a written comment to DR. He said companies that want to operate on the Danish market must follow Danish rules. He called the practice of betting on when people die completely deranged, adding that a human life is not a betting slip.
On Polymarket, users trade against each other rather than against a bookmaker, DR notes. Prices function as odds and reflect the rest of the market’s assessment of a given probability. Users can bet on outcomes such as wars, natural disasters and when specific people die, which critics consider morally objectionable.
Earlier in 2026, the then tax minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen of the Social Democrats said the platform did not belong in Denmark. She said at the time that she would examine the possibility of closing the site in the country.
Steffen Frølund, business spokesperson for Liberal Alliance, told DR he sees the platform differently. He argued that Denmark and Europe are too quick to reject new technologies that create value. He compared prediction markets to the insurance industry, where companies also price the likelihood of accidents.
Reuters reported in July 2026 that French internet service providers were ordered to block access to Polymarket. That order came from France’s national gambling authority.
