Nevada shuts down Polymarket temporarily, future in doubt
Nevada regulators have moved to shut down prediction market operator Polymarket in the state, filing a civil enforcement action that alleges the company is offering unlicensed wagering to Nevada residents.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Tuesday lodged a complaint in the District Court for Carson City against Blockratize, Inc., QCX LLC and Adventure One QSS, Inc., all doing business as Polymarket.
The Board is seeking a court declaration that Polymarket’s activities are unlawful under Nevada law, along with an injunction preventing the platform from continuing to offer its products in the state.
Polymarket operates a derivatives exchange and prediction market that allows users to buy and sell event-based contracts, including contracts tied to sporting outcomes and other real-world events. According to the complaint, those contracts are accessible via Polymarket’s mobile app and are available to users located in Nevada.
The Board argues that offering sports event contracts, and certain other event-based contracts, constitutes wagering activity under Nevada Revised Statutes 463.0193 and 463.01962. As a result, any entity offering such products must hold an appropriate Nevada gaming licence.
The Nevada regulator allege Polymarket has failed to do so, placing it in violation of multiple provisions of state law, including NRS 463.160, NRS 463.350, NRS 465.086 and NRS 465.092.
In its filing, the Board emphasised Nevada’s long-standing public policy that gambling is a tightly regulated industry central to the state’s economy and public welfare. The legislature, it said, has made clear that gaming must be licensed and controlled to protect public health, safety, morals and good order.
The case adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets in the US, particularly where state authorities view event contracts as functionally equivalent to sports betting.
The blowtorch has been further turned on prediction markets this week, with various operators offering markets on things as diverse as when US President Donald Trump will bomb Iran, or other things related to topical political or geopolitical events.
