26 PolyMarket Users Indicted for Illegal Gambling Using Blockchain Tracing

South Korean authorities have indicted 26 users of PolyMarket for suspected illegal gambling based on public blockchain transaction records, with 18 of them subsequently referred to prosecutors. The cumulative betting amount across the group totals approximately 17.6 billion won, while individual maximum bets reached up to 5.7 billion won. According to a report by Asia Economic, the Gangwon Police Cyber Investigation Unit reported these actions as of September 15, citing materials submitted to the office of Rep. Yun Gyeon-young of the Democratic Party. Authorities analyzed public blockchain data using open-source intelligence (OSINT) methods due to PolyMarket's unregulated peer-to-peer operation without maintaining user identity records. Chosun Biz had previously reported that Gangwon Police were investigating domestic PolyMarket users for illegal gambling, and the Broadcasting Media Communication Council decided on August 18 to block domestic access to PolyMarket, citing its winner-takes-all profit structure as encouraging gambling tendencies.