Coinbase eliminated public entry to its unreleased prediction markets platform inside 24 hours of tech researcher Jane Manchun Wong leaking screenshots on November 18. This marks the second main leak since September.
Coinbase eliminated public entry to an unreleased prediction markets platform on Wednesday, simply 24 hours after tech researcher Jane Manchun Wong revealed screenshots revealing the corporate’s plans to permit customers to commerce on the whole lot.
Wong, who posted her findings to X, shared what seemed to be a Coinbase-branded interface providing occasion contracts throughout politics, sports activities, science, economics, and expertise. In keeping with the screenshots, the service can be operated by Coinbase Monetary Markets — the corporate’s derivatives arm — by means of a partnership with Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform.
Coinbase then eliminated public entry:
Replace: Coinbase Predictions is not publicly accessible after my preliminary scoop about their upcoming characteristic https://t.co/ASoiCEzW0A pic.twitter.com/1SdsM8rwBY
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) November 19, 2025
Kalshi partnership offers direct path
Coinbase seems to be white-labeling Kalshi’s current regulatory framework. Kalshi holds a Designated Contract Market license from the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee, making it one of many few federally regulated prediction market platforms in the USA.
A current partnership announcement confirmed that Coinbase Custody would maintain USDC-backed Kalshi contracts, although neither firm disclosed plans for a consumer-facing prediction market platform at the moment. Coinbase declined to touch upon Wong’s screenshots when contacted by a number of shops together with Protos.
As an alternative, a Coinbase spokesperson pointed to the corporate’s upcoming Dec. 17 occasion known as “System Replace,” telling Protos to “tune in to the livestream on Dec seventeenth to search out out what new merchandise we’re transport.”
DraftKings confronted an identical leak two months earlier
The Coinbase leak follows an identical incident at DraftKings. Mike Dzikowski (@MikeDzikowski) posted to X that he found a reside DraftKings prediction market URL — predictions.draftkings.com — utilizing developer instruments.
Appears to be like like there’s a https://t.co/IBAAyHD1FY URL out there that redirects to the DK foyer, that I discovered utilizing developer instruments. @DKSportsbook @DraftKings @JasonDRobins @contessabrewer @ButlerBets @RLinnehanSR $DKNG @DK_Assist @stevebrubaker @BittGDCG pic.twitter.com/74ypI24J0r
— Mike Dzikowski (@MikeDzikowski) September 22, 2025
DraftKings responded cautiously: “DraftKings continues to watch occasions surrounding federally regulated Prediction Markets. We worth {our relationships} with trade stakeholders and policymakers and can work collaboratively as we consider subsequent steps.”
DraftKings has since introduced an upcoming launch in all 50 states.
The ‘Every part Change’ technique
The prediction markets product aligns with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s acknowledged ambition to rework the corporate into an “the whole lot trade.” In a July CNBC interview, Armstrong outlined plans to develop past cryptocurrency buying and selling into shares, choices, and prediction markets.
Coinbase already has thousands and thousands of verified customers comfy with buying and selling, eliminating the cold-start downside that plagues new merchandise. The platform processed over $1.2 trillion in buying and selling quantity in 2024, demonstrating substantial liquidity and consumer engagement. By integrating prediction markets, Coinbase might seize market share from standalone platforms whereas diversifying income past crypto buying and selling charges.
The timing is notable: a number of states — together with Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Jersey — have just lately challenged prediction market operators, arguing that occasion contracts represent unlawful playing underneath state legislation regardless of federal CFTC oversight. Including prediction markets — which function in a legally contested area between monetary derivatives and playing — might expose Coinbase to regulatory challenges on high of current SEC scrutiny over its cryptocurrency choices.
Nevertheless, the political local weather could shift in Coinbase’s favor if it decides to proceed. Trump’s CFTC nominee Mike Selig, might set up a framework extra favorable to the merger of digital property and prediction markets if confirmed.
Coinbase has positioned itself for regulatory affect, contributing over $68 million to Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-focused tremendous PAC, through the 2024 election cycle. President and COO Emilie Choi just lately acknowledged at Axios’ BFD Summit that the corporate additionally donated to Trump’s controversial White Home ballroom renovation challenge to keep “good relations” with the administration.
When requested straight whether or not the donation was meant “to maintain good relations” with the White Home, Choi paused briefly earlier than answering, “Positive.”
Will there be a Coinbase prediction market?
Most definitely. The leaked screenshots present that Coinbase is engaged on it. Key questions stay unanswered: whether or not the app can be out there nationwide, how the corporate will deal with state-by-state regulatory compliance, and what payment construction it plans to implement.
Whether or not the eliminated product represents a delayed launch or a extra cautious method stays to be seen, however the November partnership with Kalshi suggests Coinbase stays dedicated to the area and can be a competitor for the sportsbook operators coming into the market.
