Coinbase’s latest venture will soon let Americans wager on everything from presidential elections to who is going to win a beauty pageant. Coinbase revealed on Wednesday that it now offers prediction market trading across all 50 states through its collaboration with Kalshi. The exchange announced on X that users can now place bets on real-world events spanning sports, politics, and cultural moments. This expansion builds on the announcement in December regarding its vision for on-chain prediction markets alongside Kalshi. The latest development has opened the gates to a new era of digital betting.
How Prediction Markets Actually Work
Prediction market platforms operate quite differently from the typical betting sites. Users buy event contracts on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, wagering on whether certain outcomes will happen or not. The probability values get assigned based on how much people are willing to bet, which creates a kind of crowd-sourced forecast for anything from NBA championships to which party controls the Congress.
Coinbase picked an interesting moment to launch—roughly a week before the NFL’s Super Bowl, which draws more American viewers than practically any other event. The move fits into Coinbase’s bigger goal of becoming what its executives describe as an “everything exchange.” In December 2025, Coinbase bought The Clearing Company, which is a startup specializing in regulated, on-chain prediction markets and event-contract infrastructure. This acquisition will help Coinbase set itself up to offer stock trading, tokenized assets, and prediction markets all in one place.
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Legal Headwinds Build for Prediction Platforms
However, Coinbase may face some pushback in its expansion plans. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates Kalshi at the federal level, yet state authorities are not on board. Massachusetts, Tennessee, and at least two other states have sued, claiming Kalshi runs sports betting operations without the required gaming licenses.
Polymarket is dealing with similar headaches. Tennessee went after the platform over sports betting issues, and now federal lawmakers want investigations into possible insider trading. As per media reports, someone on Polymarket apparently made over $400,000 betting on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s capture, which sparked concerns they might have had advance knowledge. Congress is now pushing for tougher rules around political bets on these platforms.
