Polymarket, a decentralized prediction platform, has restricted access for French traders following an investigation into its compliance with gambling laws by France’s national gaming authority, the ANJ. 

Reports emerged Friday that French users attempting to access the platform via a VPN encountered access blocks. This ban has yet to be formally added to Polymarket’s terms of service.  

Polymarket Continues to Face Strong Regulatory Scrutiny

The scrutiny comes from a French trader’s large bets on Donald Trump winning the 2024 US Presidential election, raising concerns about the platform’s operations in France. 

A French journalist on social media highlighted the restriction, sparking further attention to Polymarket’s legal challenges.  

The platform, which allows cryptocurrency-based betting on political events, sports, and other outcomes, became popular during the US presidential race. 

“Even if Polymarket uses cryptocurrencies in its operation, it remains a betting activity and this is not legal in France – a source close to the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), the gambling regulator, explained to me,” French journalist Grégory Raymond wrote on X (formerly Twitter). 

Reports claim users wagered over $3.2 billion during the election period. The platform saw a record trading volume of $294 million on November 5.  Ahead of the results, Trump held a 67% probability on Polymarket for securing a win. 

However, later research suggested that 30% of the platform’s trading activity could be linked to wash trading. The platform was allegedly used for repetitive buying and selling to inflate perceived market activity. 

Such practices can distort public sentiment and encourage further betting.  

Also, the platform reportedly paid out significant sums to top bettors following the election. Three high-value traders collectively earned $47 million. The largest single payout amounted to $20.4 million.  

In a post-election development, the FBI confiscated Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan’s electronic devices. Sources allege the raid is tied to market manipulation accusations. No formal charges or arrests have been made.  

Despite these regulatory challenges, the platform recently reported plans for launching its own token. The platform is seemingly trying to keep its popularity alive beyond the election hype. However, more regulatory hurdles are expected.

Optimism (OP) price has surged 43.40% in the last seven days, showcasing strong bullish momentum in the market. The uptrend is supported by rising trend strength, with the ADX confirming growing momentum and EMA lines showing a bullish setup.

Despite the rally, a declining trend in daily active addresses suggests caution, as it may indicate reduced network activity and potential pressure on OP’s price. Whether OP can sustain this momentum to test resistance at $3 or face a deeper correction depends on the strength of buyer interest in the coming days.

OP Current Uptrend Is Strong

Optimism currently has an ADX of 28.7, a significant surge from below 15 just a day ago. The sharp rise in ADX indicates that the strength of OP’s current trend is increasing fast, signaling growing momentum behind the price movement.

The ADX measures trend strength, with values above 25 indicating a strong trend and below 20 suggesting a weak or nonexistent trend. At 28.7, OP’s ADX confirms that its uptrend is gaining traction and could sustain further upward momentum if this strength persists.

The positive directional index (D+) is at 38.8, while the negative directional index (D-) is at 9.37, showing that bullish pressure far outweighs bearish activity. This large gap between D+ and D- reflects strong buyer dominance, reinforcing the uptrend.

The combination of a rising ADX and a high D+ suggests that OP’s price could continue climbing as long as market conditions remain favorable and buying pressure persists.

OP Daily Active Addresses Bring An Important Signal

OP 7-day moving average of daily active addresses was 14,200 as of November 21.

This metric reflects the number of unique wallet interactions with the network, which indicates continued strong activity but is down from the yearly peak of 26,300 on October 13.

Daily active addresses are a crucial metric because they provide insights into network usage and overall demand. A decreasing trend in this metric may signal waning interest or reduced activity on the network, which could translate into lower buying pressure for OP.

If the trend continues to decline, it may exert downward pressure on OP price as market enthusiasm fades. However, a reversal in this metric could reignite bullish sentiment and support future price growth.

Optimism Price Prediction: Can OP Reach $3 In November?

If Optimism price maintains its uptrend, it could test the next resistance levels at $2.55 and potentially $3.04. Breaking above $3.04 could pave the way for OP price to challenge $3.41, its highest price since April.

This bullish scenario is supported by the EMA lines, which show a favorable setup with short-term lines positioned above the long-term ones, indicating strong momentum.

However, if the trend reverses, OP price could face significant downward pressure, with the next supports at $1.82 and $1.53.

If these levels fail to hold, the price could drop further to $1.06, representing a steep 51% correction.

Sui, a Layer-1 network, announced a new partnership with investment firm Franklin Templeton. This partnership includes capital investment in Sui and support for the firm’s blockchain development.

Despite a few vague details, the exact nature of the working relationship between the two companies remains unclear.

Sui Partners Franklin Templeton

Sui, the prominent Layer-1 blockchain, recently partnered with investment firm Franklin Templeton. This partnership will prioritize supporting a developer ecosystem rather than focusing directly on SUI development. The firm claimed Franklin Templeton has been supporting blockchain projects since 2018, and its CEO has espoused blockchain technology.

“Franklin Templeton Digital Assets has previously invested in the Sui ecosystem, and this new partnership will provide further benefit by seeking value creation opportunities to allow Sui builders to deploy novel technology onchain,” Sui claimed in a social media post.

As of yet, the firm has publicly revealed very few exact details about the partnership’s planned blockchain developments. Instead, the firm discussed several of its existing projects that attracted Franklin Templeton’s attention: its DeFi central limit order book, a decentralized mobile carrier, and an MPC network.

Still, this information does provide a few clues about the investment firm’s intentions. Earlier this year, Franklin Templeton explored DePin projects, considering them a possible lucrative development area. The firm has also been investing heavily in tokenization. It may help Sui by supporting its blockchain developers in these areas, especially DePin.

Sui, for its part, is performing quite well lately. It recently went on a remarkable bull run, climbing 74% in one month before hitting an all-time high on November 20. Yesterday, its blockchain stopped producing blocks for nearly two hours, but its token price remained impressively steady. These fundamentals could make Sui an attractive partner for Franklin Templeton.

Franklin Templeton has not yet made any direct announcements about this partnership. Sui additionally posted a more developed press release, but it did not have substantially different information than the talking points in its main announcement. Suffice it to say that Franklin Templeton is investing in Sui blockchain development.