A Nevada state judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing on‑chain prediction market Polymarket from offering event‑based contracts to residents of the state, challenging the industry argument that federal commodities law preempts state gambling rules.
In an order issued on Thursday and reviewed by Cointelegraph, the court granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board a 14‑day TRO against Polymarket’s operator, Blockratize. The injunction bars the platform from providing event contracts to Nevada users while the litigation continues. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Feb. 11.
At this early stage, the judge relied on Nevada’s gambling statutes, finding that Polymarket’s sports and event markets more closely resemble unlicensed wagering than regulated financial instruments. The court said the state would suffer “immediate” and “irreparable” harm to its ability to protect betting integrity, prevent underage gambling and enforce suitability standards if the platform continued to operate without a gaming license.
The court also rejected Blockratize’s contention that the Commodity Exchange Act gives exclusive jurisdiction over its event contracts to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Instead, the judge concluded Nevada can apply its own gaming laws to the products in question. Cointelegraph has reached out to Polymarket for comment.
Nevada’s action follows similar moves by other states. Last month Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council ordered Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com’s North American Derivatives Exchange to stop offering sports event contracts to Tennessee residents, void related trades and refund users. Tennessee regulators said those products function as sports bets subject to state oversight and flagged gaps in consumer protections, including age verification and responsible‑gaming measures.
The dispute highlights a broader legal battle over prediction markets. Kalshi, which is designated by the CFTC as a contract market, has faced state and federal litigation with mixed results — securing temporary protections in some states such as Connecticut and New Jersey while encountering adverse rulings or lifted injunctions in others, including Nevada and Maryland. Last December, Coinbase sued regulators in Connecticut, Illinois and Michigan seeking federal rulings that CFTC‑regulated prediction markets fall under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC jurisdiction rather than state gambling statutes.
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