Adam Roarty Editor
Adam Roarty is a journalist covering sports betting, regulation, and industry innovation for CasinoBeats. His coverage includes tax increases in the UK, covering breaking stories in the ever-evolving landscape of US betting such as the...
Read Full BioPrediction market platform Polymarket is targeting users in China during the Lunar New Year, despite the country’s strict prohibition of the site and any gambling-related operators.
Justin Yang, who leads the company’s go-to-market strategy in the country, said attracting users in one of the world’s most populous nations is an increasing target.
In comments to Rest of World, Yang said, “China is becoming a very important geography for Polymarket. They’ve just brought me in to do everything we can to serve our Chinese users better.”
Yang said he was unsure how many Polymarket users were based in China, but that the site receives millions of monthly visits from Asia-based users, with trading volume in the “hundreds of millions” of dollars each month.
China is not officially listed as a restricted country on Polymarket’s site. However, the country takes a strong stance against any platforms deemed to offer gambling and blocks access to Polymarket, as well as rival platform Kalshi.
Users, however, can bypass the Great Firewall by using VPNs. Polymarket appears to be banking on this and is recruiting staff to join Yang’s team.
Chinese Interface in Development
Yang, who says he is Chinese-American and lives in California, is now hiring four to five Mandarin speakers to join his team. He said the team would support Chinese market makers, develop a Chinese-language interface for the site, and monitor search trends in China to add more culturally relevant betting topics.
Recent markets added target the Lunar New Year, with festivities running in China from February 17 to March 3.
Yang said he created markets at the request of Chinese users, including “Which robot dancer brands will feature at the 2026 Spring Festival Gala”. Almost $600,000 was traded on the market.
The site also had a market on “Will Li Guyi perform at the Spring Festival Gala?” The Spring Festival Gala, a celebration of the Chinese New Year, took place on February 16. Just over $42,000 was traded on the market, which resolved to ‘no’ as Li Guyi did not perform.
Chinese users appeared to be trading on the market, with one commenting, “她年龄太大身体不好，去不了” (She’s too old and in poor health to go).
China Clamps Down on Illegal Gambling
China takes a hard line on gambling. The country recently executed several individuals tied to illegal gambling operations in Myanmar. The country has also extradited other gambling kingpins running widespread gambling networks in other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
Patrick Tan, general counsel at blockchain intelligence firm ChainArgos, said he believes there is little to no chance the country would allow citizens to use sites such as Polymarket.
Tan stated, “[China] is not naive about these things. It looks like a duck, it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck. … I don’t even think we’re going to get to that regulatory conversation.”
Despite the government’s strict regulations, the country’s large market makes it a major revenue source for companies. Meta reportedly generates a substantial proportion of its revenue from Chinese companies running advertising scams. Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of personally intervening to stop a Chinese anti-scam team from clamping down on the phenomenon.
