Nevada | Crypto

The judge said Kalshi’s event contracts are indistinguishable from sports betting, supporting the state’s position that the platform requires a gaming license. A Nevada judge has reportedly extended a ban preventing Kalshi from offering event-based contracts in the state, ruling that the products constitute unlicensed gambling under state law. Judge Jason Woodbury said at a hearing in Carson City on Friday that he will grant a preliminary injunction requested by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, barring the company from allowing residents to trade on outcomes such as sports, elections and entertainment events without a gaming license, according to Reuters. The decision extends a temporary restraining order issued on March 20, which will remain in effect through April 17 while the court finalizes longer-term restrictions. Read more

A state judge ruled that Kalshi's prediction markets offering sports bets were "indistinguishable" from gambling, and extended a temporary ban in Nevada.

A Nevada state judge has sided with local authorities to ban Kalshi’s sports, election and entertainment event contracts in the state for 14 days. A Nevada judge has temporarily blocked Kalshi from operating in the state, finding that state authorities are reasonably likely to prevail in a legal fight over whether the company’s event contracts violate Nevada gambling laws. Carson City District Court Judge Jason Woodbury issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, siding with a Nevada Gaming Control Board motion to block Kalshi from operating in the state for 14 days. "Prediction markets, to ​the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public," Nevada Gaming Control Board Chair Mike Dreitzer said in a statement to Reuters. Read more

A Nevada court issued a 14-day ban on a wide range of contracts from prediction market firm Kalshi as the firm continues battling with state regulators.

US gaming lawyer Daniel Wallach says a Nevada state court-issued restraining order against Kalshi appears imminent, preventing it from offering sports-related contracts. A federal appeals court has cleared Nevada state authorities to enforce a temporary restraining order against Kalshi, blocking its sports-event contracts. The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court on Thursday denied Kalshi’s emergency request to stay a lower court proceeding, meaning the case returns to federal court and allows Nevada regulators to take action. Gaming lawyer Daniel Wallach said a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Kalshi now appears imminent, and added that it wouldn’t be able to operate in Nevada for at least 14 days until a preliminary injunction hearing is held: Read more

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a legal effort by Kalshi to stave off an expected temporary restraining order from the state of Nevada.

The two separate rulings add new regulatory pressure as prediction markets also face scrutiny over information advantages and suspected insider activity tied to event-driven contracts. Two US federal court rulings have increased the risk that Nevada regulators may seek to halt prediction-market trading in the state after a judge sent a dispute involving Polymarket’s parent company Blockratize and Kalshi back to state court in two separate rulings. A federal judge rejected arguments that US regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fully preempts state gaming laws for prediction markets, according to a Monday order. The judge found that the CEA’s savings clause does not completely displace state authority and that the companies had not shown a basis to block Nevada’s action at this stage. Read more

Kalshi is looking to have Nevada’s lawsuit heard in federal court, again asserting it is subject only to federal commodity exchange laws. The US state of Nevada has sued Kalshi after the prediction market company lost its court challenge to stop the state’s regulator from taking action over its sports prediction markets. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday denied Kalshi’s bid to stop Nevada’s gaming regulator from taking action on its sports event contracts, removing a block on the regulator launching a civil suit against the company. After the decision, the Nevada Gaming Control Board promptly filed a civil enforcement action in state court against Kalshi, which it said sought to block the company “from offering unlicensed wagering in violation of Nevada law.” Read more

A Nevada judge declined to grant regulators’ bid to halt Coinbase’s event contract markets, as the exchange presses a CFTC preemption argument in federal court. A Nevada state court denied regulators’ request for an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) to immediately halt Coinbase’s new prediction market offering. Instead, the court set a hearing for next week so the exchange can respond, according to Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) filed a civil enforcement action in Carson City on Monday, accusing Coinbase of offering unlicensed wagers on sports event contracts and asking for a TRO and preliminary injunction to block the products for Nevada residents. Read more

The enforcement action over wagers on sports event contracts followed Coinbase announcing the launch of prediction markets in all 50 US states. The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that it had filed a civil enforcement action against Coinbase over wagers on sports event contracts. In Monday filings in the First Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and for Carson City, the Nevada Gaming Control Board sued Coinbase Financial Markets over allegations the company offered unlicensed wagers on sporting events. Authorities followed by requesting that the court grant a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing Coinbase from “operating a derivatives exchange and prediction market” related to sporting bets. “The Board takes seriously its obligation to operate a thriving gaming industry and to protect Nevada citizens,” said Mike Dreitzer, chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, in a Tuesday statement. “The action taken yesterday reinforces this obligation.” Read more

A Nevada judge has temporarily barred prediction market Polymarket from offering event contracts in the state, pushing back against claims that only the CFTC can police those markets. A Nevada state judge has temporarily forced onchain prediction market Polymarket to halt business in the state, with a ruling that challenges the industry’s argument that federal commodities law preempts state gambling rules.  In a Thursday order seen by Cointelegraph, the court granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board a 14‑day temporary restraining order (TRO) against Polymarket operator Blockratize. The order bans Polymarket from offering event‑based contracts to Nevada residents while the case develops. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11. The order leans on Nevada gambling statutes, finding at this early stage that Polymarket’s sports and other event markets constitute unlicensed wagering rather than regulated financial products.  Read more

Nevada regulators shut down Fortress Trust on Oct. 22, citing insolvency that left the custodian holding roughly $200,000 in cash against $8 million owed in fiat and $4 million in crypto. The cease-and-desist order marked the second major Nevada trust-company collapse in two years, following Prime Trust’s entry into receivership in June 2023. Both firms […] The post Nevada shuts down Fortress Trust: Who holds your keys during custody consolidation? appeared first on CryptoSlate.