Crypto.com’s prediction market exchange and Novig have sued Missouri officials in federal court, seeking to prevent enforcement of state sports wagering laws against their sports event contracts.
The lawsuits were filed on 16 October as deadlines expired under cease-and-desist letters issued by Attorney General Catherine Hanaway in September.
The letters gave six operators 30 days to stop offering sports event contracts to Missouri residents or obtain state licensing and pay the 10% wagering tax. Hanaway maintains that describing sports bets as event contracts does not exempt providers from Missouri law.
North American Derivatives Exchange, the exchange behind Crypto.com’s OG platform, filed in Missouri’s Western District. Its complaint argues that the Commodity Exchange Act gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission exclusive jurisdiction over its contracts, pre-empting state gambling law.
The exchange also says Hanaway addressed the letter to Foris DAX rather than the exchange itself. It argues that obtaining a direct mobile sports wagering licence is unavailable because Missouri’s two constitutionally permitted licences have already been awarded.
Novig filed through Ludlow Exchange LLC in the Eastern District, seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions.
It argues that interim protection would preserve existing operations while the Eighth Circuit considers a related question in Kalshi’s Iowa litigation.
Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood and Underdog received similar letters but had not filed lawsuits in either Missouri federal district as of 18 October, according to The Block’s review of court records.
The publication reported that the operators and the Missouri attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The development follows similar cease-and-desist orders issued in Ohio in October. Separately, Robinhood announced a multi-year agreement to distribute Crypto.com’s event contracts, while Novig reported increased trading volume and customer acquisition around its Sydney Sweeney advertising campaign.
Missouri’s minimum sports betting age is 21, while the attorney general’s letter said Crypto.com allows users aged 18 and over to trade
