South Korean police are investigating 26 people suspected of placing illegal bets worth approximately 19 billion won ($12.7 million) through crypto prediction platform Polymarket, as authorities intensify scrutiny of offshore wagering services accessible from the country.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit is examining activity allegedly conducted between January 2024 and June 2026, South Korean media reported on September 17.
Authorities suspect the 26 individuals collectively conducted more than 4,000 transactions through Polymarket, with the total amount wagered exceeding 19 billion won. Individual trading volumes reportedly ranged from tens of millions of won to several billion won.
Police are investigating potential violations of South Korea’s Criminal Act provisions governing gambling and habitual gambling. No convictions have been announced, and the users under investigation should not be treated as having committed an offence unless authorities establish the allegations through the legal process.
The investigation highlights the increasingly complicated legal position of decentralized or crypto-funded prediction markets when users access them from jurisdictions that tightly restrict gambling.
Polymarket Bets Face Korean Gambling Rules
Polymarket allows users to trade contracts whose prices reflect expectations about future events, including elections, economic data, cryptocurrency prices, sports and entertainment.
The platform operates using blockchain infrastructure and generally denominates positions in USDC. Traders purchase outcome shares that settle at $1 if the selected result occurs and $0 otherwise.
South Korean authorities, however, can treat wagering on uncertain events for financial gain as gambling regardless of whether the service describes the transaction as a prediction-market trade or uses cryptocurrency rather than conventional money.
Article 246 of South Korea’s Criminal Act provides for fines of up to 10 million won for gambling, while habitual gambling can carry imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 20 million won. Limited gambling undertaken merely for temporary entertainment is exempt.
South Korea maintains a particularly restrictive gambling regime. Most forms are prohibited outside specifically authorized activities, while Korean citizens can potentially face domestic penalties for illegal gambling conducted through overseas platforms.
Scrutiny of Offshore Prediction Markets Expands
The latest investigation follows earlier enforcement attention directed at Polymarket and competing prediction platforms.
South Korea’s National Police Agency said in 2025 that it was reviewing Polymarket and Kalshi as part of efforts to combat illegal online gambling. Domestic access to gambling websites can also be restricted through cooperation between law-enforcement authorities and telecommunications regulators.
The issue has become more prominent as prediction markets have expanded beyond political elections into sports, financial markets and short-duration cryptocurrency contracts.
Polymarket’s global profile has risen substantially since the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The company subsequently returned to the regulated U.S. market after acquiring CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange QCEX for $112 million in 2025.
That U.S. regulatory status does not automatically authorize Polymarket in other jurisdictions. Prediction-market operators must still contend with each country’s gambling, derivatives, financial-services and consumer-protection laws.
For South Korea, cryptocurrency adds another enforcement dimension. The country has one of the world’s most active retail crypto markets, while regulators have simultaneously tightened oversight of exchanges, stablecoins and cross-border digital-asset transactions.
The reported $12.7 million investigation demonstrates how that oversight is increasingly extending beyond conventional cryptocurrency trading. As blockchain prediction markets grow, authorities are focusing not only on the platforms themselves but also on domestic users who access offshore services that may fall outside locally permitted forms of wagering.
