Coinbase has secured an early procedural win in its legal standoff with Nevada regulators, blocking an emergency effort to immediately shut down its prediction markets offering in the state.
Summary
- Coinbase blocked Nevada regulators’ emergency bid to immediately halt its prediction markets, with a state court declining to grant a temporary restraining order.
- The exchange argues prediction markets fall under exclusive CFTC jurisdiction, not state gambling laws, a position reiterated by Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal.
A Nevada court declined to grant the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s (NGCB) request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced Coinbase to halt its event-based contracts for local users. Instead, the court scheduled a full hearing, allowing Coinbase’s prediction markets to remain live while the case proceeds.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal confirmed the ruling in a post on X, arguing that Nevada’s emergency filing attempted to sidestep federal law.
Grewal reiterated that Congress has granted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) exclusive jurisdiction over these contracts, leaving state gaming regulators without authority to intervene.
Coinbase began offering prediction markets last month across 50 U.S. states via a partnership with Kalshi.
Nevada’s gambling argument against Coinbase
The NGCB filed suit earlier this month, claiming Coinbase’s prediction markets amount to unlicensed sports wagering under Nevada law. Regulators argued the products pose a threat to the state’s heavily regulated gaming industry.
According to the complaint, Coinbase’s markets allow users to trade on real-world outcomes in a manner that resembles traditional betting, bringing them squarely within Nevada’s gambling statutes. On that basis, the state sought an emergency injunction, arguing immediate action was needed to prevent irreparable harm.
Coinbase countered that the emergency request was legally flawed and overly broad. In its filings, the company argued that even if the court were to block Coinbase, Nevada residents could still access identical contracts through federally regulated platforms, undermining the state’s claim of urgency.
The Nevada case follows similar regulatory pushback in other states, including Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut, where Coinbase has proactively sought court rulings to affirm federal preemption.
While the court’s refusal to grant emergency relief does not resolve the case, it gives Coinbase valuable breathing room and signals judicial caution around reclassifying federally regulated contracts as illegal gambling.
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Author: Ann Maria Shibu
