Ludlow Exchange, LLC, doing business as Novig, and North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., the Crypto.com exchange doing business as OG.com Prediction Markets, filed separate federal lawsuits against Missouri officials on Friday, October 16, 2026, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against state enforcement of sports event contracts, according to DeFi Rate, which checked the official court feeds for both cases on October 16 and October 17. Covers reported both filings on October 16, and Prediction News reported the Novig filing the same day, citing Law360.
The lawsuits answer a state deadline set a month earlier. On September 16 and September 17, 2026, Missouri Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway directed six operators to comply with Missouri sports wagering licensing, tax and age rules or cease offering Missouri sports event contracts, with confirmation due within 30 days, according to DeFi Rate. The six recipients were KalshiEX LLC, QCX Limited Liability Company, Foris DAX, Inc., Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Ludlow Exchange, LLC and Underdog Sports Wagering, LLC, according to DeFi Rate.
Hanaway stated the state position in terms Covers quoted on October 16: "Companies cannot repackage sports bets as 'event contracts' to avoid Missouri law." Any company offering sports wagering in Missouri must be licensed by the Missouri Gaming Commission, pay the required taxes and fees, and ensure no one under 21 can place a bet, Hanaway stated, according to Covers. Novig and the Crypto.com exchange chose litigation over that licensing path, Covers reported.
Novig filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri as case 4:26-cv-01780, complaint ECF 1, a 42 page filing against Hanaway and Missouri Gaming Commission officials Michael A. Lear and Jan M. Zimmerman in their official capacities, according to DeFi Rate, which visually checked the court stamped first page of the complaint. The complaint seeks to prevent enforcement of Missouri gambling and sports wagering laws against its event contracts and alleges that federal law places the transactions within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to DeFi Rate. Prediction News reported the same theory in different words on October 16: Novig alleges the contracts are "quintessential swaps" under the Commodity Exchange Act.
The Crypto.com exchange filed separately in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri as North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. v. Hanaway, case 4:26-cv-00969-DGK, complaint ECF 1, a 39 page filing, according to DeFi Rate, which confirmed the caption and docket from the official Western District feed and checked the court stamped first page. Gaming lawyer Daniel Wallach noted on October 16 that filing in the Western District rather than the Eastern District, where Novig sued, ensures the two cases are not assigned to the same judge, according to Covers. Neither filing establishes that any injunction or other relief has been granted, and the full complaint texts and later orders have not been verified, according to DeFi Rate.
Novig is the smaller plaintiff with the newer product. Novig launched its sports focused prediction market product in August 2026 and generated 125 million dollars in trading volume during its first week, according to Covers. Covers also posed the question the licensing path raises: Missouri is open to licensing prediction market operators as sports wagering providers, and Covers asked whether the state tax is the impediment or whether operators are holding out for a potential United States Supreme Court decision that could resolve their state disputes nationally.
The Missouri cases land in a split federal map that DeFi Rate tracks across 125 lawsuits and 13 administrative or enforcement actions in 28 states and the District of Columbia. The Third Circuit ruled 2 to 1 for Kalshi against New Jersey on April 6, 2026, the Ninth Circuit ruled 3 to 0 against Kalshi in Nevada on August 28, 2026, and the Sixth Circuit ruled 3 to 0 against Kalshi in the consolidated Ohio and Tennessee cases on September 25, 2026, according to DeFi Rate. If the Missouri cases reach appeal, they would go to the Eighth Circuit, which has yet to decide a prediction market case, according to Covers.
Analysis: Missouri is a useful test because the state offered a door, not just a wall: a Gaming Commission license, taxes and a 21 and over age rule, set out in the September 16 and 17 letters Hanaway sent to six operators, according to DeFi Rate. Novig and the Crypto.com exchange declined that door on October 16 and instead asked two different district courts to declare the door itself preempted, according to DeFi Rate and Covers. That choice matters beyond Missouri. Watch whether either district court grants preliminary relief before the state moves to enforce, whether the other four letter recipients, Kalshi, Polymarket US, Robinhood and Underdog, file, comply or withdraw, and whether the Eighth Circuit becomes the fourth appeals court to rule on whether a sports event contract is a swap. Until a court rules, the only confirmed facts are the filings themselves: two complaints, two districts, no injunction verified.