According to Foresight News , citing CoinDesk, several days after Ukraine blocked Polymarket and nearly 200 gambling-related websites, Dmitry Nikolaievskyi, Chief Legal Officer of the Digital Economy Development Project Office of the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation, stated in an interview with CoinDesk that Web3 prediction markets do not have a legal basis for operation in Ukraine under current law. While the decision to ban Polymarket followed existing legal procedures, the fundamental problem lies in the fact that the country's legal framework does not recognize prediction markets.
Previously, the National Electronic Communications Regulatory Committee of Ukraine (NKEK) issued a directive requiring internet service providers to block access to the prediction market. This order was based on a recommendation from PlayCity, Ukraine's national gambling regulator, which pointed out that Polymarket lacks a gambling license and that its market nature is unusual, including betting related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
