Nevada authorities file lawsuit against Coinbase over unlicensed wagering

The Nevada Gaming Control Board just filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets, accusing them of running unlicensed sports betting through prediction markets. They’re asking the court to slap a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on Coinbase to shut down their “derivatives exchange and prediction market” for sports wagers.

This legal move comes less than a week after Coinbase announced they’d launched prediction markets in all 50 US states through a partnership with Kalshi. While Kalshi is regulated by the CFTC at the federal level, state regulators like Nevada’s are still coming after them hard.

Last week, a Nevada court granted a temporary restraining order against a Polymarket operator, blocking them from offering event-based contracts to state residents. The judge said unlicensed betting causes “immediate” and “irreparable” harm to the state’s ability to regulate gambling.

These cases at the state level — against Coinbase, Polymarket, and others — could seriously challenge the CFTC’s authority to regulate prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket when there aren’t clear federal laws in place.