Nevada court issues temporary injunction prohibiting Polymarket from offering event contracts within the state

According to Odaily, a Nevada court in the United States has issued a two-week temporary restraining order against Blockratize, the operating entity behind the prediction market platform Polymarket, prohibiting it from offering sports and event contracts to Nevada residents. The court found that Polymarket's related business may violate Nevada's gambling laws and is not protected by the "exclusive regulatory authority" of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The ruling pointed out that the Commodity Exchange Act does not grant the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over Polymarket contracts. Platforms engaging in such business without obtaining state-level licenses would hinder Nevada gambling regulators from fulfilling their statutory duties, such as preventing match manipulation, underage participation, and the involvement of ineligible individuals. 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 such as Polymarket and its competitor Kalshi may be required to apply for gambling licenses on a state-by-state basis or be forced to withdraw from sports-related markets. Previously, regulators in Hungary, Portugal, and the U.S. state of Tennessee have also taken restrictive measures against Polymarket, indicating that prediction markets are facing increasingly stringent state-level compliance pressures. (Decrypt)