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Nevada Judge Andrew Gordon ruled that Crypto.com’s contracts are not “swaps” in a move that may have been influenced by a tribal brief.
After a lengthy legal battle, Crypto.com’s request for a preliminary injunction has been refused by Judge Gordon in Nevada, meaning the operator will need to cease operations of its sports prediction platform in Nevada or face financial penalties. Despite Crypto.com’s argument that its event contracts are financial “swaps” that are overseen by the CFTC, rather than sports bets, the judge ruled that the contracts depend on sports results and therefore fall under Nevada gambling rules.
This echoes wording in the tribal brief from September 15, as pointed out sports betting lawyer Daniel Wallach.
It turns out that the Tribal Amici brief in the Crypto dot com case may have persuaded Nevada federal judge Andrew Gordon to rule that sporting event outcomes ≠ "swaps." From the Tribes' Sept. 15th brief — Judge Gordon adopted this argument in his ruling several weeks later: pic.twitter.com/RgGcvObbIb
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) November 5, 2025
“Crypto.com’s sports event contracts do not meet these definitions because they are not dependent on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a sports event – i.e., whether the sports event occurs – but rather on the outcome of the sports event – i.e., which team wins,” reads the brief.
The example given later in the brief is a circumstance where bad weather is threatening to cancel a football game, meaning the owner of the stadium could purchase an event contract in favor of the team not playing their game.
Controversy among prediction markets: Crypto.com versus Kalshi
This ruling has caused some controversy among onlookers, particularly as prediction market Kalshi, which offers very similar services, has been granted approval to operate in Nevada. Polymarket also made a recent return to the US after securing a deal with the CFTC. The difference in the two cases highlights the uncertainty and lack of clarity around prediction market operations in the US.
Critics of prediction markets view it as a way of circumventing regulation around sports betting, while others argue that the operational technicalities make them two entirely separate mechanisms.
Readwrite has reached out to Crypto.com for comment.
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