Crypto.com Will Cease Taking Sports Event Contracts in Nevada

Crypto.com, a futures market trading platform, sought a preliminary injunction to prohibit Nevada gaming regulators from enforcing Nevada law against its sports event contracts. However, that attempt did not pass legal muster, and Crypto.com has advised the Board that it will stop taking contracts in the Silver State.

Legal Setback

Futures market trading firms like Kalshi and Polymarket have been successful in arguing that they are governed and regulated at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has allowed them unfettered access to all 50 states, including those that have not yet launched a sports betting industry.

However, Crypto.com, another competitor in the futures trading market, has surprisingly had a different outcome.

The company looked to enjoin the Board from enforcing state law against it, arguing it was immune to state requirements, adhering only to federal governance as set forth by the CFTC. U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon denied that motion, a verdict that Crypto.com intends to appeal.

In response, Crypto.com advised the Board that it will stop taking sports event contracts in Nevada on November 3rd of this year and will maintain that position unless its appeal is granted.

Mike Dreitzer, Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said in a statement:

“That means Crypto.com will no longer hold open positions in sports event contracts for Nevada residents and will not permit new contracts to be opened. As licensees are probably aware, the Board has been working diligently to uphold its charge to protect the safety, morals, good order, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the state, to foster the stability and success of gaming, and to preserve the competitive economy and policies of free competition of the state of Nevada.”

Does Ruling Put Kalshi at Risk?

Crypto.com sat before the same judge that had allowed, in April, a similar motion by Kalshi to be enforced. However, that case has been reviewed and will likely be denied. These legal setbacks at the federal level are new and deeply concerning to the futures market platforms.

The same judge who granted Kalshi free rein to roam in Nevada reached the same conclusion but differed on the definition of a “swap.” This is a critical issue because it may allow the Nevada Gaming Control Board to go back to the legal well against Kalshi if Crypto.com is unsuccessful in its appeal.

This would set a legal federal precedent for all other gaming boards throughout the nation to force these renegade trading platforms from operating as an alternative sports betting site to those that are currently licensed by the state.

This would be a victory for mobile sports betting stakeholders, including the sportsbooks themselves, state regulators, and gaming tribes that are poised to control sports betting in Texas and California, two of the nation’s most densely populated states that have yet to launch sports betting.

After the ruling, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued the following memo: “The Board considers offering sports event contracts, or certain other events contracts, as constituting wagering activity under NRS 463.0193 and 463.01962. Wagering occurs whether the contract is listed on an exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or elsewhere.”