The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets, seeking to block the crypto exchange from offering sports event contracts in the state without a gaming licence.
The regulator argued that prediction markets on sports outcomes amount to unlicensed wagering under Nevada law, a similar line taken by other state gaming regulators against operators in the emerging vertical.
The Board filed a complaint in the District Court for Carson City on 2 February, requesting both a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt Coinbase from operating what it describes as a derivatives exchange and prediction market tied to sporting events.
In a statement published yesterday, Mike Dreitzer, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said: “The Board takes seriously its obligation to operate a thriving gaming industry and to protect Nevada citizens. The action taken yesterday reinforces this obligation.”
The legal action came less than a week after Coinbase announced the nationwide rollout of prediction markets across all 50 US states through a partnership with Kalshi, a platform regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at federal level.
Coinbase operates as a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant, acting as an intermediary for customers trading regulated derivatives on a third-party Designated Contract Market.
However, Nevada authorities argue that regardless of federal oversight, sports-related contracts constitute wagering when offered to Nevada residents, triggering state licensing requirements under statutes NRS 463.0193 and 463.01962.
The Board maintains that Coinbase’s operations violate multiple Nevada gaming laws.
Prediction market legal battles heat up
The Nevada lawsuit forms part of a broader jurisdictional battle over prediction markets.
Coinbase filed federal lawsuits in December against regulators in Connecticut, Michigan and Illinois, arguing that the CFTC holds exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets and that state enforcement efforts stifle innovation and violate the law.
Those states had issued cease-and-desist letters alleging unlicensed sports wagering.
The Nevada action follows a similar enforcement move against Polymarket in the same court, where a state court granted a 14-day temporary restraining order on 29 January blocking the platform from offering event contracts to Nevada residents.
A preliminary injunction hearing in that case is scheduled for 11 February.
The increasingly complex set of legal battles, now featuring several divergent rulings at the federal level, are eventually expected to culminate in a Supreme Court case at some time in the future, legal experts have told nextpredict.io/.