Polymarket has been reported as moving toward KYC checks for some users, raising fresh questions about whether prediction markets are drifting away from the wallet-only, pseudonymous model that helped fuel their growth. The company pushed back on that characterization. On May 28, Polymarket VP of Engineering Josh Stevens said the report was inaccurate, adding that only a new beta product requires certain test users to complete KYC and that the current Polymarket website has not introduced a new KYC requirement. He also said users would no longer need KYC once the beta test ends.
35 countries are already geo-blocked
According to the source material, Polymarket had geo-blocked 35 countries as of Wednesday, preventing residents there from placing orders on the platform. The list includes Iran, Russia, and North Korea. Geo-blocking stops local users from betting, and the report tied that restriction to a broader need to verify where traders are actually located.
That pressure is linked to enforcement actions in several jurisdictions. South Korea’s Korea Communications Standards Commission began reviewing Polymarket on May 22, focusing on whether 32 Korean political markets on the site could violate anti-gambling rules. Indonesia’s communications ministry then moved on May 25 to block Polymarket, describing it as an illegal online gambling platform after a market appeared on when President Prabowo would leave office.
Insider trading concerns moved to the center
Polymarket has operated with a low-friction onboarding model, allowing users to connect wallets and trade without submitting identity documents. That design made participation easy. It also made users harder to trace. On May 21, a report said a U.S. soldier used classified information to place an early bet on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and ultimately collected $400,000 on Polymarket.
After that report, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced an insider trading investigation into Polymarket and Kalshi, requesting internal material related to user screening and trade surveillance. The source also said bipartisan lawmakers are considering legislation that would bar government officials and members of Congress from participating in prediction markets.
Jurisdiction fight in the U.S. is still unfolding
At the same time, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should have “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets. That view matches the position of CFTC Chair Michael Selig, who has filed lawsuits against several state-level officials over efforts to use local gambling laws against Polymarket and Kalshi.
The source further noted that Donald Trump Jr. serves as a strategic adviser to Kalshi and also as an adviser to Polymarket. With state crackdowns, congressional scrutiny, and platform-level testing of identity checks all happening at once, compliance has become a central issue for prediction markets. For now, Polymarket’s public position is clear: the current main platform has not adopted a blanket KYC policy.