Bitbank warns users over Polymarket gambling risk
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- Bitbank urged customers to exercise caution with external services and avoid involvement in criminal activity or legal disputes, specifically flagging prediction market platforms.
- Bitbank warned that platforms allowing users to bet on election results, sports outcomes, and other future events could be classified as gambling under Japanese law when used for financial gain.
- Bitbank did not cite any specific regulatory action or government directive behind the notice, and Cointelegraph received no response when asked what prompted it.
- Polymarket currently lists Japan among 35 restricted jurisdictions in its access policy, even as the company signaled in May that it was exploring expansion into the Japanese market.
- Prediction markets including Polymarket and Kalshi face growing scrutiny globally, with regulators in multiple jurisdictions taking action over gambling concerns.
- Japan has not issued formal guidance specifically on prediction markets, leaving crypto firms to navigate the legal uncertainty on their own.
Why it matters: Bitbank's unilateral warning highlights a regulatory vacuum in Japan around prediction markets—no formal guidance exists, yet a major exchange is telling users that Polymarket-style platforms could violate gambling law. Polymarket, which already lists Japan among 35 restricted jurisdictions, had signaled May expansion plans that now face a more complicated path into the market.
