Nevada court issues temporary restraining order prohibiting Polymarket from offering event-based contracts within the state

Odaily Planet Daily News: A Nevada court in the United States has issued a two-week temporary restraining order against the operating entity behind the prediction market platform Polymarket, Blockratize, prohibiting it from offering sports and event contracts to Nevada residents. The court believes that Polymarket’s related activities may violate Nevada gambling laws and are not protected by the Federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “exclusive regulatory authority.”

The ruling states that the Commodity Exchange Act does not grant the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over Polymarket contracts. Platforms operating without state-level licenses to conduct such activities will hinder Nevada’s gambling regulators from fulfilling statutory duties such as preventing market manipulation, underage participation, and involvement of ineligible persons. The court believes that maintaining the integrity of the state’s gambling system is in the public interest, and therefore supports the issuance of the temporary injunction.

If this ruling is upheld in subsequent hearings, prediction market platforms like Polymarket and its competitor Kalshi may be required to apply for gambling licenses on a state-by-state basis or be forced to exit sports-related markets. Previously, regulatory agencies in Hungary, Portugal, and Tennessee have also imposed restrictions on Polymarket, indicating that prediction markets are facing increasingly strict state-level compliance pressures. (Decrypt)