South Korean police have opened criminal proceedings against 26 users of prediction market platform Polymarket, referring 18 of them to prosecutors over approximately 17.6 billion won (about $12.7 million) in bets. The largest single bet identified reached 5.7 billion won ($4.1 million). Authorities accuse the users of illegal gambling under Article 246 of the Criminal Code, after South Korea blocked access to Polymarket on August 18. Despite the platform holding no real-name records, law enforcement traced the Korean users through public blockchain transaction records and open-source techniques. The accused argue that Polymarket should be classified as a virtual asset derivatives market rather than gambling, a question expected to dominate the court proceedings.
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