{"id":71702,"date":"2026-04-27T15:46:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/romania-blocks-300-sites-and-launches-e5m-treatment-fund-as-polymarket-ban-holds-in-court-bitcoin-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:46:22","slug":"romania-blocks-300-sites-and-launches-e5m-treatment-fund-as-polymarket-ban-holds-in-court-bitcoin-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/romania-blocks-300-sites-and-launches-e5m-treatment-fund-as-polymarket-ban-holds-in-court-bitcoin-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Romania Blocks 300 Sites and Launches \u20ac5M Treatment Fund as Polymarket Ban Holds in Court \u2013 Bitcoin News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Romania ONJN blocked over 300 illegal gambling sites and revoked 60 licenses in its 2025-2026 mandate year.<\/li>\n<li>\u20ac5M Con\u0219tient \u0219i Liber fund marks Romania\u2019s first state funding for gambling addiction treatment<\/li>\n<li>Romanian court rejected Polymarket\u2019s suspension request on April 1, keeping ONJN blacklist intact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Romania\u2019s Gambling Regulator Shares Block List<\/h2>\n<p>The Oficiul Na\u021bional pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN) <a href=\"https:\/\/onjn.gov.ro\/relatii-publice\/mass-media\/comunicate-de-presa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">published its activity report<\/a> on April 24, summarising 12 months of enforcement and reform. The figures point to a reorientation toward black market enforcement. ONJN inspectors carried out approximately 11,000 control actions, issued fines totaling 10 million lei (about $2.2 million), revoked 60 operator licenses, and filed 70 criminal complaints. The regulator also issued more than 60 orders for the removal of illegal online content, with a reported 98% compliance rate, and added 300+ unlicensed websites to its national blocking list.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year has shown that change is possible. It does not come easily and is not done without resistance. There have been blockages, opposition and attempts to slow down essential projects, both from inside and outside,\u201d Soare said in the report\u2019s accompanying statement, confirming that ongoing investigations would continue.<\/p>\n<p>A key structural change underpinning the enforcement push is the public register of gaming devices, launched by the ONJN in October 2025. The cloud-native system links each registered slot machine and video lottery terminal to a unique QR code, with mandatory geolocation tracking. The regulator has described it as the first of its kind among EU regulators. The legislation also expanded the agency\u2019s authority to issue takedown orders for illegal gambling content under the EU Digital Services Act framework.<\/p>\n<p>The ONJN inherited approximately 30,000 unprocessed self-exclusion requests when Soare took office; the report says the registry now covers approximately 54,000 individuals. A draft emergency ordinance currently with Romania\u2019s Ministry of Finance would unify the self-exclusion procedure across land-based and online operators, introduce a mandatory cool-off period, with penalties of up to 100,000 lei for non-compliance.<\/p>\n<p>The most concrete policy shift came on April 17, when ONJN <u>opened applications<\/u> for its Con\u0219tient \u0219i Liber (Aware and Free) program. The \u20ac5 million fund marks the first time the Romanian state has directly financed gambling addiction prevention and treatment. Applications close May 11, with implementation running August through December 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The activity report follows Soare\u2019s April 1 announcement of a Bucharest court ruling that rejected Polymarket\u2019s request to suspend ONJN\u2019s blacklist decision. \u201cThe decision to include Polymarket on the blacklist is not about technology, but about the law. Whether you bet in lei or in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a>, if you wager money on a future outcome under counterparty conditions, we are talking about gambling that must be licensed,\u201d Soare said at the time. \u201cONJN will not permit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-a-blockchain\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blockchain<\/a> to be turned into a screen for illegal betting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Romania separately joined the Balkan Gaming Federation in March, a regional industry body coordinating policy across Western Balkans markets without supplanting national regulators.<\/p>\n<p>The Con\u0219tient \u0219i Liber program, device register rollout, and unified self-exclusion bill remain in early implementation phases. ONJN\u2019s report acknowledged that several reforms still depend on legislative or budgetary follow-through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/romania-blocks-300-sites-and-launches-e5m-treatment-fund-as-polymarket-ban-holds-in-court\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways: Romania ONJN blocked over 300 illegal gambling sites and revoked 60 licenses in its 2025-2026 mandate year. \u20ac5M Con\u0219tient \u0219i Liber fund marks Romania\u2019s first state funding for gambling addiction treatment Romanian court rejected Polymarket\u2019s suspension request on April 1, keeping ONJN blacklist intact. Romania\u2019s Gambling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362403,"featured_media":71703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}