In brief
- A Nevada state court has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Polymarket from offering event contracts.
- Judge Woodbury ruled the harm from evading Nevada’s “comprehensive regulatory structure” is “immediate, irreparable and not sufficiently remediable by compensatory damages.”
- The decision adds to mounting regulatory pressure on prediction markets, following enforcement actions in Tennessee and bans in Portugal and Hungary.
A Nevada state court has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Blockratize, the entity behind Polymarket, from offering event-based contracts in the state for two weeks, finding that the platform’s activities likely violate Nevada gaming law and are not shielded by exclusive federal derivatives oversight.
In an order issued Saturday, Judge Jason Woodbury sided with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, ruling that the Commodity Exchange Act “does not vest exclusive jurisdiction over Polymarket’s contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.”
The order blocks Polymarket from offering sports and events contracts to Nevada residents ahead of a February 11 hearing on a preliminary injunction.
If upheld, platforms like Polymarket and competitor Kalshi may be forced to obtain state-by-state gambling licenses or abandon sports-related markets entirely, a business segment representing over 80% of some platforms’ trading volumes.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed its civil enforcement action seeking “a declaration and injunction to stop Polymarket from offering unlicensed wagering” through its mobile app, which it considers sports wagering activity under state statutes.
“The resulting harm in evasion of Nevada’s ‘comprehensive regulatory structure’ and ‘strict licensing standards’ is immediate, irreparable, and not sufficiently remediable by compensatory damages,” the judge wrote.
The order declared that “an unlicensed participant beyond the Board’s control, such as Polymarket, obstructs the Board’s ability to fulfill its statutory functions,” including preventing wagers from individuals who could influence sporting event outcomes, blocking underage participants, and keeping unsuitable individuals from involvement.
“The balance of hardships and public interest in maintaining meaningful control over Nevada’s gaming industry for the purpose of ensuring its integrity strongly supports issuance of the temporary restraining order,” Judge Woodbury added.
“It appears that Polymarket has already ceased offering event contracts in Nevada,” Daniel Wallach, founder and principal of Wallach Legal LLC, a law firm specializing in sports wagering and gaming law, posted on X.
State-level enforcement may increase “compliance costs and legal uncertainties, potentially deterring investment and slowing the development of new features or products in the prediction market sector,” Even Alex Chandra, a partner at IGNOS Law Alliance, told Decrypt.
Chandra said the government needs to provide “clearer guidelines, potentially standardizing the industry and fostering long-term growth.”
The Nevada action follows similar enforcement moves across multiple jurisdictions.
Both the Hungarian Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities and the Portuguese Gaming Regulatory Authority issued bans against Polymarket this month, accusing it of illegal gambling activity.
Earlier this month, Tennessee’s Sports Wagering Council sent cease-and-desist letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com, ordering the companies to immediately pull sports-related markets accessible to Tennessee customers and refund pending wagers.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and 30 House colleagues, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), recently introduced the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026.
The bill would stop federal elected officials, political appointees, and employees of Congress and executive agencies from participating in prediction markets when they possess “material non-public information” about a market or the ability to influence its outcome.
Decrypt has reached out to Polyarket for comment.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/356597/nevada-court-temporary-restraining-order-polymarket
