The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it is suing Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and their affiliates, to halt their alleged facilitation of illegal sports betting, a form of unlawful commercial gambling, in Wisconsin.

“Thinly disguising unlawful conduct doesn’t make it lawful. These companies’ alleged facilitation of sports betting in Wisconsin should be shut down,” said AG Kaul.

Except in limited circumstances, sports betting and other forms of commercial gambling have long been illegal in Wisconsin. Yet, as alleged in these lawsuits, the defendant companies have chosen to flout Wisconsin law through disguising the sports betting they facilitate on their online platforms as “event contracts,” which pay out just like ordinary bets based on the odds of sports-related outcomes.

The complaints further allege that the companies collect a fee for every bet made, meaning they generate revenue from Wisconsinites by violating the state’s gambling laws. Kalshi, as one example, reportedly generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue from its sports contracts, representing around 90% of its total estimated annualized revenue.

As the complaints allege, by making money from the sports bets they facilitate, these companies are engaging in unlawful gambling activity.

Wisconsin DOJ’s lawsuits, filed on last Thursday in Dane County, request a declaration that, by making sports-related event contracts available for trading by customers located in Wisconsin, the defendant companies are violating Wis. Stat.§945.03(1m) and thereby creating a public nuisance. The lawsuits additionally request preliminary and permanent injunctions enjoining and restraining the defendant companies from making sports-related event contracts available for trading by customers located in Wisconsin.

High Roller Technologies Inc., operator of the award-winning, premium online casino brands High Roller and Fruta, announced that it has executed a Definitive Agreement with Crypto.com | Derivatives North America (CDNA) to launch an event-based prediction markets offering, initially in the US. The Agreement will enable High Roller to offer CDNA’s event contracts in the US, creating a new strategic growth opportunity for the Company across finance, sports and entertainment and marking its entry into the rapidly emerging prediction markets sector.

Third-party estimates project that a mature U.S. market opportunity could exceed $1 trillion in annual trading volume,1 while international opportunities further expand the addressable market potential for High Roller.

“High Roller brings a premium brand, strong online expertise and an established customer-facing platform to this opportunity. Together, we believe we can expand access to regulated event contracts in the United States through a differentiated and highly scalable offering,” said Kris Marszalek, Co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com.

“We’re thrilled to have reached a definitive agreement to enter the prediction markets space with Crypto.com. Over the last few months, we have been working towards preparing our product and other logistics for this transformative opportunity and today marks a significant milestone in that journey. We believe this partnership gives us a strong starting position in a market with meaningful long-term potential, and we’re confident in our ability to deliver,” said Seth Young, Chief Executive Officer of High Roller Technologies.

Agreement Summary

Under the terms of the Agreement, event contracts offered by CDNA, a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse and affiliate of Crypto.com, will be made available to customers through High Roller, which plans to operate a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker and establish a relationship with Crypto.com’s CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant. The Agreement establishes Crypto.com and its affiliates as providers of prediction contracts across High Roller’s distribution channels in the US and is expected to create new revenue streams for High Roller.

The partnership will offer customers the opportunity to trade event contracts across markets including finance, entertainment, and sports, through a legal, regulated, engaging, and user-friendly platform.

Following the successful execution of the Agreement, High Roller intends to provide updates regarding its product, brand, launch timing, and marketing partnerships.