A judge in Buenos Aires, Susana Parada, signed a court order on March 16, 2026, mandating the full blockade of prediction market platform Polymarket across Argentina. The country becomes the second in Latin America, after Colombia, to legally block the platform.
The complaint was jointly filed by the Buenos Aires City Lottery Board (LOTBA) and the Argentine Casino and Bingo Association (CASCBA). The investigation was led by the Special Gambling Prosecution Office (FEJA), with prosecutor Juan Rozas handling the case and the Judicial Investigation Group (CIJ) providing technical support.
Inflation data "predicted" 15 minutes early
The immediate trigger was an anomaly in Polymarket's market for Argentine February inflation figures. Fifteen minutes before the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) released the official data, several accounts with very low prior trading volume suddenly placed large bets — and those bets turned out to match the official numbers exactly. Regulators suspect insider trading facilitated by someone within the Argentine government leaking the unreleased data.
Three core charges: No KYC, no license, crypto payments
LOTBA and CASCBA leveled three main allegations: no identity or age verification, allowing minors to bet within minutes, violating local gambling laws; unauthorized operation, as Polymarket holds no gambling license in Argentina yet offers betting services under the guise of "prediction markets"; and accepting cryptocurrency and credit cards, creating opaque fund flows and increasing money laundering risks.
The court ordered the National Communications Commission (ENACOM) to instruct all internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to Polymarket, and asked Google and Apple to remove the Polymarket app from their Argentine stores. However, as of 1:05 p.m. on the day of the order, the platform remained accessible in the country, indicating the blockade has not yet been fully enforced. Polymarket has not yet publicly commented on the matter.