South Korean police have formally investigated 26 Polymarket users and referred 18 of them to prosecutors over trading activities authorities believe constitute illegal gambling. The cases involve approximately 17.6 billion Korean won in total bets, with the largest individual bet reaching about 5.7 billion won. Police identified and tracked the users by analyzing public blockchain transaction records through open-source intelligence techniques. The Korea Communications Standards Commission blocked Polymarket on August 18, saying the platform encourages gambling by allowing users to stake assets on uncontrollable events under a winner-takes-all profit model.