Coinbase Agrees To Halt Sports Event Contracts In Michigan
Coinbase has agreed to stop offering sports-related event contracts in Michigan, the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced on October 7, 2026, as the state continues to press prediction-market platforms it says are offering unlicensed sports betting.
Under the agreement, Coinbase must stop offering new sports-related event contracts in Michigan immediately and close out any remaining open contracts by October 10.
The deal resolves Michigan's specific dispute with Coinbase over its conduct in the state, but it does not settle the broader legal question of how sports-tied event contracts should be regulated.
Coinbase Joins Kalshi And Robinhood In Stepping Back
The agreement puts Coinbase in a similar position to Kalshi, which was blocked from offering sports-related contracts in Michigan in September 2026 while its legal fight with the state continues, and to Robinhood, which has also agreed to halt certain sports-related event contracts there.
"Coinbase joining Robinhood and Kalshi in stepping back from these unlicensed sports contracts underscores Michigan's commitment to enforcing its gaming laws," said Michigan Gaming Control Board Executive Director Henry Williams.
"Operators are halting these activities because they face significant legal consequences for continuing to offer them in our state."
The Underlying Jurisdiction Fight Continues
Coinbase and Kalshi both argue that their event contracts are federally regulated financial products subject to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's exclusive oversight.
Michigan disagrees, arguing that when those contracts are tied to sports outcomes, they function as sports betting and fall under its state gambling laws and the Michigan Gaming Control Board's oversight, the same rules that apply to traditional, licensed sportsbooks operating in the state.
One Front In A Wider State-By-State Pushback
Michigan's settlement with Coinbase is the latest move in a broader pattern of state regulators pushing back against sports-linked prediction markets, a fight Gambling.com has tracked as it has played out across multiple jurisdictions.
How the underlying federal-versus-state authority question is ultimately resolved will determine whether more states follow Michigan's approach or the CFTC's jurisdictional claim prevails.
Michigan's Existing Sports Betting Rules
Michigan legalized retail and online sports betting in 2019, and licensed sportsbooks operating in the state must hold a Michigan Gaming Control Board license, pay state taxes on their revenue, and comply with responsible gambling and advertising rules enforced by the Board.
The dispute with Coinbase, Kalshi, and Robinhood centers on whether prediction-market platforms offering sports-outcome contracts should be held to the same licensing and oversight regime, rather than operating under separate federal commodities rules with no state-level gambling safeguards.
Until a court or Congress settles that question definitively, Michigan's approach has been to negotiate individual settlements with each operator rather than wait for the underlying legal dispute to be resolved, giving the state concrete, near-term wins even as the jurisdictional fight continues in parallel.
For now, Michigan bettors who want to wager on sports outcomes are left with licensed, state-regulated sportsbooks as their only option, while the prediction-market alternative is paused pending the outcome of the broader legal dispute.
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