The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets on Monday, seeking to block the CFTC-registered exchange from offering event-based contracts on sports and elections to Nevada residents without state gaming licenses.
The filings ask the court to immediately halt Coinbase’s event-contract offerings on its mobile app, saying the platform allows users aged 18 and above to open accounts and trade despite Nevada’s 21-year minimum age requirement for gambling.
Decrypt has reached out to Coinbase for comment.
Coinbase operates a market offering event-based contracts on sporting events, including college basketball, college and professional football games, and elections, which the Board alleges constitute wagering under Nevada law and require state licensing.
Those states issued cease-and-desist letters to prediction market platforms, alleging they were engaged in sports wagering activity without proper licensing.
The board noted it is suffering "serious, ongoing, irreparable harm every day that Coinbase operates its market in violation of Nevada law."
Nevada regulators say Coinbase's operations create "a massive and unfair competitive advantage" over licensed sportsbooks that must pay licensing fees, taxes, maintain physical locations, and comply with strict consumer protection requirements.
Coinbase, however, maintains that prediction markets fall under federal jurisdiction in the lawsuit filed against the three states.
Nevada’s dispute with Kalshi began last March, when the Gaming Control Board issued a cease-and-desist order over its sports event contracts, followed by a brief injunction in Kalshi’s favor that was lifted in November, a decision the company is now appealing in the Ninth Circuit.
