Nevada’s Gaming Control Board has filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase over wagers on sports event contracts.
- Nevada regulators filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase over alleged unlicensed sports wagering.
- Authorities are requesting a restraining order and an injunction to block Coinbase’s prediction markets in the state.
According to a Feb. 3 press release from the board, Coinbase, through its prediction market products, may be offering unlicensed wagers on sporting events. Entities offering such contracts “must be licensed,” the board said.
“The Board has deemed Coinbase’s operations to be unlawful in Nevada,” the release said.
Authorities have filed a civil enforcement action in the District Court for Carson City against Coinbase and have requested the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop Coinbase from offering unlicensed wagering.
“The Board takes seriously its obligation to operate a thriving gaming industry and to protect Nevada citizens. The action taken yesterday reinforces this obligation,” said Mike Dreitzer, Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Coinbase began offering prediction markets last month across 50 U.S. states via a partnership with Kalshi. Users are able to trade yes or no contracts on real-world outcomes directly within the Coinbase app.
Predictions markets face legal scrutiny
Kalshi has received regulatory clearance from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While the CFTC oversees Kalshi at the federal level, the platform has still faced legal challenges from state-level authorities over the classification of its event contracts.
Nevada filed a lawsuit against Kalshi last year, and the legal battle has since dragged on through multiple phases. Kalshi is also embroiled in a number of lawsuits across a number of other states, including Connecticut, California, and New York, among others.
Last week, authorities in the state targeted a Polymarket operator with a temporary restraining order granted by a Nevada court.
Coinbase sued three U.S. states on Dec. 19 as it argues that prediction markets are regulated under federal authority. It filed lawsuits against Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut just a day after it announced its prediction market offering.
Coinbase argues that allowing individual states to enforce conflicting rules undermines national market consistency.
