Coinbase will stop offering new sports-related event contracts to customers in Michigan by 12 a.m. Eastern time on Oct. 10, under an agreement with Michigan. The company must also close all remaining customer positions by that deadline.
The agreement covers sports-related event contracts, including those traded on KalshiEX and other designated contract markets. In return for Coinbase complying, Michigan agreed to refrain from enforcement action while related appeals proceed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The arrangement does not settle the underlying question of whether Michigan can regulate Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered event contracts as gambling. It preserves each side’s rights, obligations and defenses pending a final ruling by the Sixth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. A court denied Coinbase’s request for a preliminary injunction in August.
Coinbase is the third platform whose Michigan sports-contract operations have been halted through an agreement or court action. Robinhood Derivatives agreed in September to stop accepting new sports-related event contracts by the end of Sept. 9 and to close customer positions by Oct. 9. A Michigan state-court preliminary injunction separately barred KalshiEX from offering, listing or facilitating such contracts for people in the state.
Michigan regulators describe the actions as part of a campaign against operators offering sports-wagering products as federally regulated prediction markets without a state sports-betting licence. Henry Williams, the gaming board’s executive director, said Coinbase joining Robinhood and Kalshi in withdrawing underscored the state’s commitment to enforcing its gaming laws.
The board and the Michigan attorney general’s office are jointly seeking to ensure that sports wagering is offered only through licensed and regulated operators. In comments submitted to the CFTC in April 2025, the board argued that sporting-event contracts are financial positions based on sports outcomes but are equivalent to internet sports-betting wagers under Michigan’s Lawful Sports Betting Act.
The board has said unlicensed offerings could expose residents to inadequate consumer protections and divert activity from licensed operators. Legal sports betting in Michigan generated more than $20 million in taxes and fees in 2024 for public services and responsible-gaming programmes, according to the regulator.
