Polymarket’s official X account is now hidden for anyone viewing it from India. Since October 22, 2026, Indian users see X’s standard notice that the profile has been “withheld in response to a legal demand”, while the account stays visible everywhere else, as reported by NDTV Profit and MediaNama.
Neither MeitY nor Polymarket has said which order was used. MediaNama notes that X has previously complied with Indian orders under Section 69A of the IT Act, which allows whole profiles to be blocked. The interesting part isn’t the block itself. It’s that India has now closed three separate doors to the same platform, and the law behind it is aimed at very specific people.
Three blocks in six months
| Date | Action | What it targets |
|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | MeitY advisory to VPN providers and intermediaries | Tools that let users reach blocked prediction markets, including rupee-to-USDC conversion |
| May 1, 2026 | Online Gaming Act rules take effect | All online money games, prediction markets included |
| May 21-22, 2026 | ISPs apply DNS-level blocks on polymarket.com | Direct website access |
| October 22, 2026 | X account withheld in India | Official announcements and market updates |
Source: MeitY advisory, MediaNama timeline. The pattern is a move from the platform, to the access tools, to the information channel. Each step cuts off a different way Indian users were still finding the product. ThePrint had reported that despite the earlier ban, Polymarket and Kalshi kept letting Indian users sign up and trade.
Who the law actually punishes
The legal base is the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. Its rules, issued on April 22, 2026, took effect on May 1. It bans online money games, defined by staking money in the hope of a return, whether skill or chance decides the outcome, and Indian authorities treat prediction markets as covered.
Section 9 of the Act sets out the penalties. We’ve put them side by side:
| Who | Offence | First conviction | Repeat conviction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Offering a money game (s.5) | Up to 3 years and/or up to ₹1 crore | 3-5 years and ₹1-2 crore |
| Advertiser or promoter | Ads in any media (s.6) | Up to 2 years and/or up to ₹50 lakh | 2-3 years and ₹50 lakh-₹1 crore |
| Bank or payment facilitator | Moving funds to a money game (s.7) | Up to 3 years and/or up to ₹1 crore | 3-5 years and ₹1-2 crore |
| Player | Playing | No penalty in the Act | No penalty in the Act |
The PIB summary confirms these numbers. The Act treats players as people to protect, not offenders. That explains the shape of the enforcement: you can’t easily fine thousands of anonymous wallet holders, so the state goes after what sits between them and the platform, including ISPs, VPNs, payment rails and now the platform’s social reach.
The stablecoin line is the one to watch
The April advisory said something crypto users in India should note. MeitY wrote that some users were “converting Indian Rupees into virtual digital assets such as USD Coin (USDC) or other stablecoins” to take part despite the ban. It warned that any platform facilitating such access, “including facilitation of financial transactions”, would breach the Act.
Read that next to Section 7, which covers any “person facilitating financial transactions”. Buying USDC is legal in India, and the Act doesn’t punish players. But an intermediary that knowingly helps route money to a blocked prediction market is in a far more exposed position than it was a year ago.
What it means for Indian investors
- Nothing changes for ordinary crypto holding. USDC, bitcoin and other virtual digital assets are still taxed at 30% plus 4% cess on gains, with 1% TDS on transfers. See our net-in-hand calculator for worked numbers.
- If you used Polymarket from India, its official updates no longer reach you on X here. MediaNama notes that Polymarket hasn’t added India to its own geo-restricted list, so enforcement depends on Indian intermediaries.
- Courts haven’t yet tested whether decentralised prediction markets should be treated differently from betting sites. For now, official practice treats them as prohibited.
BtcMedia verdict: This isn’t a crypto crackdown. It’s gaming law enforced at every chokepoint around one category of product. The part with lasting weight is MeitY naming rupee-to-stablecoin conversion as a circumvention route. Expect that line to come up again in exchange compliance.
FAQ
Is it illegal for an Indian to bet on Polymarket? The Online Gaming Act sets no penalty for players. It punishes those who offer, advertise or fund online money games, and the platform itself is blocked.
Why was Polymarket’s X account withheld? The order and the authority behind it haven’t been disclosed. X shows its standard “legal demand” notice, and the account remains visible outside India.
Is buying USDC in India banned? No. USDC is a virtual digital asset, taxed at 30% plus cess on gains with 1% TDS. MeitY’s concern is its use to reach blocked platforms.
This article is for information only and is not financial or legal advice.