The legal challenge brought by Polymarket against Romania’s gambling regulator has reached a definitive conclusion. On April 2, 2026, the Romanian courts officially rejected an appeal from the blockchain-based prediction platform, upholding the National Gambling Office’s (ONJN) decision to keep the site on the national blacklist.
The ruling marks a major victory for the ONJN and its president, Vlad-Cristian Soare, who has been vocal about closing “regulatory loopholes” that allow platforms to rebrand traditional betting as “event trading”. The court’s decision reinforces that technological complexity does not exempt a platform from national licensing requirements.
The Legal Battle: Defending the Licensing Perimeter
Polymarket was originally added to the Romanian blacklist in late 2025 after a massive surge in local activity during the country’s high-stakes election cycle. The platform argued in court that it was a decentralised information tool or a “prediction market” rather than a gambling site, a distinction it has used to navigate various global jurisdictions.
However, the Romanian judiciary sided with the ONJN’s assessment that the platform’s core functionality, wagering capital on uncertain future outcomes for a financial return, fits the strict legal definition of counterparty betting.
Following the verdict, ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare emphasised the importance of the precedent:
There has been a lot of speculation around this decision. In reality, the stake was not and is not only Polymarket. The real stake is to protect the legal framework that regulates gambling and prevent a dangerous loophole: redefining gambling under the seemingly harmless name of a ‘prediction platform’. Today’s decision is, therefore, more than a solution in a specific dispute. It is a signal at the European level that the law cannot be circumvented by artifices to reclassify activities that, after all, fall within the sphere of gambling.
A Tough Year for “Grey Market” Artifices
The court’s decision comes at a time when Romania is significantly tightening its oversight of the digital sector. The defeat for Polymarket is expected to set a precedent for how other decentralised or “Web3” platforms are treated in the country.
- Cracking Down on Affiliates: This ruling bolsters the ONJN’s recent efforts to target the marketing ecosystem. Earlier this year, a complaint was filed in Romania against affiliates promoting unlicensed platforms, and this court victory gives the regulator more leverage to pursue those who link to blacklisted sites under the guise of “financial news”.
- Social Protection Reforms: The ban is consistent with the government’s broader social agenda. Recently, the Romanian Senate raised the gambling age to 21 and restricted online ads to shield younger demographics from gamified betting products, including those found on prediction markets.
What This Means for the Romanian Market
For Romanian residents and industry stakeholders, the court’s decision carries three major consequences:
- Permanent Blocking: ISPs are legally required to maintain the DNS block on Polymarket domains, and the ONJN has been authorised to monitor for mirror sites.
- No Legal Protection: Since the court ruled the activity illegal, any funds held on the platform by Romanian users are considered part of an illicit transaction, leaving users with no legal recourse in cases of payment disputes.
- Strict Compliance for “Event Betting”: Any platform wishing to offer tradeable “shares” on events in Romania must now undergo the full Class 1 licensing process, including local tax contributions and responsible gambling oversight.
President Soare concluded that the ONJN would remain vigilant against any “artifices” or “new terminologies” used to mask gambling activities, ensuring the 2026 regulatory reset remains ironclad for the protection of Romanian citizens.