Coinbase reached an agreement with the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) to stop offering sports event contracts in the state, the gaming regulator announced on Wednesday.
The MGCB said that Coinbase agreed not to list any new sports markets and to close out all open sports trades by 12 a.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 10. In return, the state will not pursue enforcement action against Coinbase in the interim, while an appeal process continues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
“Our efforts, alongside the Gaming Control Board, are making a clear impression on the executives of the illegal sports betting industry, and we’re glad to reach yet another agreement that protects Michigan residents,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“Michigan gaming law is simple and clear, and written to keep gaming in our state fair and well-regulated. Whether by agreement or court order, we intend to bring all sports betting into compliance with the law.”
SBC Americas reached out to Coinbase for comment but has not yet received a response.
Michigan regulator counts prediction market wins
Robinhood reached a similar accord with the Michigan regulator in September, pledging to take down its sports markets in the state by Oct. 9.
Meanwhile, a state court judge ordered Kalshi to shut down sports trading and advertising in Michigan at the start of September and to geoblock the state using a licensed geolocation services provider.
“Coinbase joining Robinhood and Kalshi in stepping back from these unlicensed sports contracts underscores Michigan’s commitment to enforcing its gaming laws,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams in the Oct. 7 press release. “Operators are halting these activities because they face significant legal consequences for continuing to offer them in our state.”
The MGCB stressed that the agreement does not resolve the underlying legal dispute about whether the state has the authority to regulate event contract trading offered by Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered exchanges.
Coinbase lost preliminary injunction bid this summer
Coinbase made its deal after a court denied its attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction against Michigan officials in August.
The cryptocurrency exchange sued the MGCB and other Michigan officials including Attorney General Dana Nessel in federal court in December 2025 in an attempt to prevent state authorities from pursuing civil or criminal enforcement action against the company.
Coinbase filed its lawsuit after the MGCB launched investigations into prediction market platforms that it said offered sports event contracts in the state, including Kalshi. Coinbase hosts a range of sports contracts powered by Kalshi. The court complaint argued that, by sending several cease-and-desist letters to prediction market platforms, Michigan showed that it was likely to bring enforcement action against Coinbase.
A federal judge denied Coinbase’s motion for a preliminary injunction in August, rejecting the company’s arguments that the Commodity Exchange Act’s definition of swaps completely preempts state gambling laws and that Coinbase would suffer “irreparable harm” if it could not offer sports in Michigan.
Coinbase’s Sixth Circuit prospects look challenging
Coinbase immediately appealed the decision to the Sixth Circuit, where it is stayed pending resolution of related appeals involving other prediction market companies.
The signs suggest that it could have a hard time winning that appeal.
In a separate case, Sixth Circuit judges issued a unanimous opinion in late September finding that Kalshi’s sports event contracts are not swaps under federal commodities law, and do not prevent Ohio and Tennessee from enforcing their sports betting laws. The judges determined that Kalshi did not establish that sports event contracts meet the CEA’s definition of a swap, and that Kalshi’s interpretation would, by extension, define bets at a sportsbook or casino as off-exchange swaps.
Soon after that opinion, the Ohio Casino Control Commission sent cease-and-desist letters to 10 prediction market operators that it said are illegally participating in sports event contracts in the state, including Coinbase.
