Nevada sues Coinbase over alleged unlicensed sports betting offerings

U.S. regulators in the state of Nevada have sued Coinbase, alleging it offered unlicensed sports betting products.

According to Cointelegraph on the 3rd (local time), the Nevada Gaming Control Board said it has filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets in the First Judicial District Court in Carson City. Regulators claim Coinbase offered unlicensed betting products tied to sports event contracts.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board asked the court for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to bar Coinbase from operating a derivatives exchange and prediction market related to sports betting. The regulator said the service constitutes gambling activity not permitted under state law.

In a statement, Mike Dreitzer, chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said, "The Board takes seriously its responsibility to maintain a sound gaming industry and protect Nevada residents," adding that "this action reaffirms that duty."

The lawsuit was filed less than a week after Coinbase announced it had launched prediction market services across all 50 U.S. states through a partnership with Kalshi. While Kalshi is overseen at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the episode has again highlighted that state regulators can pursue separate legal action.

Nevada has previously taken similar action against Polymarket. Last week, a Nevada court approved a temporary restraining order requiring Polymarket’s operator to stop offering event-based betting to state residents. The court at the time found that unlicensed betting causes immediate and irreparable harm to regulators’ supervisory authority.

Market participants are also watching the possibility that state-level lawsuits involving Coinbase and Polymarket could escalate into a federal-state clash over regulatory jurisdiction across prediction markets. The assessment is that prediction market models operating solely under CFTC oversight, without clear legislative alignment, are facing mounting challenges.