Due to the rapid growth in popularity of the international prediction market Polymarket, several Belgian experts have expressed concern. The experts’ concerns focus in particular on the use of cryptocurrency on Polymarket, as this form of payment is popular among young people.
In recent months, there has been a lot of attention for the international prediction market Polymarket, partly due to the bets on a new pope. Previously, the gambling site also made international headlines when an unknown French gambler had bet tens of millions of dollars on a victory for the current American president Donald Trump.
The Gaming Commission, the gambling regulator in Belgium, discovered that Polymarket was illegally offering its services and made several requests to the site to exclude Belgium. After receiving no response, the Belgian gambling watchdog blacklisted Polymarket. As a result, internet providers in Belgium must block access to the gambling site.
Nevertheless, Belgian experts are concerned about the rapid growth of Polymarket, as they told Knack. The fact that people are gambling with cryptocurrency, which is very popular among young people, is of particular concern to the experts. Jolien Moernaut of the Flemish Expertise Center Alcohol and other Drugs (VAD) says about this:
“Young people are more impulsive and do not always have the financial literacy to sufficiently understand concepts such as crypto and gambling.”
Jolien Moernaut, Flemish Expertise Center Alcohol and other Drugs (VAD)
Moernaut also indicates that these platforms do not check for age, which means that minors can also gamble there. At the same time, they also have no betting limits, which legal online casinos in Belgium do have to deal with.
Ronny Willemen, author of the book ‘Gambling is not a game’ and counselor at Integra Limburg, also expresses his concerns. He says that cryptocurrencies are volatile, and that losses often lead to greater risks to make up for the loss.
Groen party Member of Parliament Stefaan Van Hecke would like the Gaming Commission to be able to do more against illegal providers:
“Illegal websites are illegal for a reason. They don’t care about the legislation. For example, they simply allow minors.”
“The Gaming Commission must be strengthened, because it cannot act everywhere at the same time now. And foreign gambling sites cannot be blocked so easily.”
Stefaan Van Hecke, Groen party Member of Parliament
Last week, Polymarket also proved to be very popular when it came to betting on the new pope. Polymarket accepted $30,143,338 (€27,064,530) in bets, while the similar platform Kalshi took in a total of $10,618,819 (€9,534,224).
The amounts pale in comparison to the bets of more than $2 billion on the upcoming NBA champion, or almost a billion dollars on the next Champions League winner, which have been placed on Polymarket.
