Lithuania’s Gambling Supervisory Authority (LPT) has ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket and instructed payment service providers to stop processing transactions with Adventure One QSS, Inc., the company that operates the platform. It is the first time the Lithuanian regulator has taken action against a prediction market.
The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court approved the blocking order after an LPT investigation concluded that Polymarket was offering remote gambling to Lithuanian players without a licence. The regulator announced the decision on 17 September 2026.
Polymarket’s addition brings the LPT’s list of blocked illegal remote gambling websites to 2,204.
How the LPT reached its finding
Investigators opened and funded an account on Polymarket and placed fixed-odds bets on sporting events, Gaming Intelligence reported. On that basis the LPT classified the activity as betting, which under Lithuanian law may only be offered by operators holding a local licence.
The regulator said its investigation “identified signs of gambling” even though the website described its product as a “prediction market”. It added that the order had “foiled an attempt to circumvent restrictions on illegal remote gambling”.
Polymarket lets users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of events, from elections to football matches. Each contract pays out if the event happens, and its trading price moves with the market’s view of the probability. The platform presents this as trading between users. The LPT looked at how the sports markets work for a player placing money on a result and treated them as bets.
Blocking at two levels
The order works on two channels. Internet service providers must block access to the Polymarket website from Lithuania, and payment service providers must end all transactions with Adventure One QSS. The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court approved both instructions.
Payment blocking has become a standard tool for regulators dealing with unlicensed operators. Brazil went further this week, when it ordered banks to block accounts linked to illegal betting within 24 hours.
Polymarket had not commented publicly on the Lithuanian decision at the time of writing.
Europe’s regulators and prediction markets
Lithuania joins France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, which have all restricted access to Polymarket. Those regulators have generally treated sports and event contracts as gambling products that need a national licence, whatever label the platform uses.
The picture across Europe is not uniform. Gibraltar has set up a regulated framework for prediction markets, and Malta has discussed creating one. Most national regulators in continental Europe have so far used their existing gambling laws to block the platforms.
Lithuania’s wider enforcement push
The Polymarket order follows other activity around illegal gambling in Lithuania this year. Earlier this summer, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) accused Lithuanian fintech Walletto of processing payments for illegal gambling operators.
In April, Lithuania’s Ministry of Finance proposed a mandatory player card system that would track gambling activity across venues. The proposal sets 1 January 2029 as the start date.
The LPT operates under the Ministry of Finance and maintains Lithuania’s list of blocked gambling websites.
What happens next
The order applies to the website and to regulated payment channels. Polymarket’s international platform settles trades in the USDC stablecoin, so the practical effect of the payment instruction will depend on how far it reaches the crypto on-ramps Lithuanian users rely on to fund accounts.
For other operators in the prediction market segment, the Lithuanian decision adds another EU jurisdiction where the regulator has tested a platform directly and classified it as betting. Operators looking to enter the EU will need either a national gambling licence in each market or a change in how regulators define these products.
Source: Gambling Supervisory Authority of Lithuania (LPT)
