Polymarket also faces similar regulatory hurdles in the US and in France. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Upbit suspended deposits for Solve.Care (SOLVE) due to transparency concerns. SOLVE has been labeled as a “cautionary item” for a two-week review period running from Jan. 10 to Jan. 24 of 2025. In India, Bybit temporarily halted trading services because of regulatory challenges, but it is working hard to become compliant under strict tax policies and ambiguous regulations in the country.
Polymarket Hit with Restrictions in Singapore
Singapore has blocked access to Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based prediction market, as part of its crackdown on unlicensed gambling platforms. On Jan. 12, users in Singapore reported that they were unable to access the platform. Polymarket operates on the Polygon blockchain and allows users to bet on global events using USD Coin (USDC).
Visitors who try to access the site are met with a warning referring to Section 20 of the Gambling Control Act 2022, which imposes fines of up to SG$10,000, jail terms of up to six months, or both, for gambling with unlicensed operators. The warning also points out that Singapore Pools is the only licensed online gambling operator in the country.
Alex Zuo, Vice President at Cobo Global, commented on X that Polymarket has been officially classified as a gambling site in Singapore, and users are facing penalties for engaging in unauthorized betting activities. Tightened regulations shifted enforcement authority for illegal gambling from the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) to the Singapore Police Force as of Jan. 1.
Repeat offenders could face fines of up to SG$700,000 and imprisonment of up to ten years. Since 2015, the GRA blocked more than 3,800 gambling websites and froze transactions amounting to SG$37 million.
(Source: GRA)
Polymarket has faced legal challenges in multiple jurisdictions. In 2022, the platform settled with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for operating an unregistered derivatives trading platform, which resulted in a $1.4 million fine and a block on US users. Recently, Coinbase also revealed that it received a subpoena from the CFTC regarding Polymarket that could potentially require user data submission by Jan. 15 unless legal action intervenes. In November of 2024, Polymarket restricted access to French users due to compliance investigations by French authorities.
Despite these hurdles, Polymarket still continues to see impressive trading activity. In the first few days of 2025, it recorded $431 million in trading volume. The Super Bowl Championship 2025 market attracted over $15 million in wagers.
Upbit Suspends SOLVE Deposits
A number of crypto companies are facing challenges in other countries as well. Upbit, South Korea’s leading crypto exchange, suspended deposits for Solve.Care (SOLVE) because of concerns over transparency and potential risks to investors.
In an official announcement, the exchange pointed out some deficiencies in SOLVE’s distribution plan, changes in its business strategy, and a general lack of operational transparency. As a result, SOLVE has been labeled as a “cautionary item” for a two-week review period running from Jan. 10 to Jan. 24 of 2025. During this time, Upbit will decide whether to extend the designation, lift it, or terminate trading support for the token.
Upbit raised several specific issues, including inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in SOLVE’s token issuance and distribution strategy, which could mislead investors about its supply dynamics. Concerns were also flagged with regards to the lack of procedural transparency and clarity in SOLVE’s operational changes, which the exchange described as potentially harmful to users. The announcement warned users against attempting transactions with the token during the review period.
This suspension happened during a time of growing interest in cryptocurrency in South Korea. Upbit’s actions align with the country’s still evolving regulatory framework, including the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has also been exploring new regulations to establish clearer standards for listing and delisting altcoins, introduce stablecoin regulations, and enhance market oversight with better investigative tools. However, some critics have called for more streamlined policies to address unresolved issues, like crypto taxation and Bitcoin spot ETF approvals.
South Korea’s crypto market recently saw some explosive growth. In fact, the number of crypto investors surpassed 15 million in November of 2024, accounting for more than 30% of the country’s population. According to the Bank of Korea, the market valuation doubled from 58 trillion won in October to 102.6 trillion won in November. Daily trading volumes soared to $10.2 billion in November, outpacing the combined activity of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ stock markets, and crypto exchange deposits doubled to 8.8 trillion won during the same period.
Bybit Halts Trading in India
Global crypto exchange Bybit also announced a temporary suspension of trading services in India, effective Jan. 12 at 8:00 am UTC, due to devolving regulatory developments. The suspension will affect several key services, including cryptocurrency trading, account openings, and order placements.
Bybit assured its users that fund withdrawals will remain unaffected during this period. Existing trading positions can also be managed under a “Close-Only” mode, which allows users to close positions without modifying or adding to them.
This decision was made after Bybit’s earlier integration of digital rupee payments into its platform in July of 2024 because of an increase in interest in the Indian market. However, regulatory challenges have been a recurring issue for the exchange.
In August 2024, Bybit stopped operations in France due to regulatory pressures and is currently working to secure a license to resume activities there. Similarly, in December of 2024, Malaysia’s Securities Commission ordered Bybit to halt operations for running an unregistered crypto exchange. Bybit complied with the directive.
Despite these setbacks, Bybit is still actively engaging with Indian regulators to finalize its registration as a virtual digital asset service provider. The process is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. While the exchange has not provided any further details on its suspension, it is still fully focused on achieving compliance in critical markets.
India’s stance on cryptocurrencies is still quite ambiguous, and is riddled with strict regulatory measures and high crypto taxes that were introduced in 2022. These measures initially pushed Indian traders toward international exchanges, though trading volumes later returned to domestic platforms after a ban on offshore entities.
As part of its G20 presidency in 2023, India prioritized global consensus on crypto regulations by securing agreement among all member nations. However, rigid crypto tax policies persist due to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman maintaining controversial tax rules in the 2024-2025 fiscal budget despite extensive lobbying from the crypto industry. The sector’s calls for reducing the tax-deducted-at-source rate from 1% to 0.01% have not yielded any changes yet.
